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THE  LIBRARIES 


THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 
ELLISON    CAPERS 


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THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

ELLISON  CAPERS 


BY 

THE  REV.  WALTER  B.  CAPERS 

Bishop  Capers'  Son  and   President  of 
Columbia  Institute 


NEW  YORK 
THE  NEALE  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

1912 


en 


f3-'fgf5f- 


Copyright,  1912,  by 
The  Neale  Publishing  Company 


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•  • 





•        • 


•. •.  .". • 


To  THE  Memory  of 

CHARLOTTE  PALMER  CAPERS 

This  Volume  is  Lovingly  Dedicated. 

In   every  relation   of  life  she  nobly   filled   her 

SPHERE,  to  her  HUSBAND  SHE  WAS  THE  IDEAL  WIFE  :  HIS 
WISEST  COUNSELLOR;  HIS  MOST  SYMPATHETIC  FRIEND; 
HIS  BEST  CRITIC  AND  MOST  HELPFUL  CO-LABORER,  SHE 
EVER  MANIFESTED  A  PERFECT  UNDERSTANDING  AND  APPRE- 
CIATION OF  HIS  EXALTED  NATURE,  AND  THUS  CON- 
TRIBUTED TO   HIS   SUCCESS. 

"they   were    sweet   and   lovely   in   their   lives  ; 

AND     IN     their    death    THEY    WERE    NOT    DIVIDED." 


FOREWORD 

In  presenting  the  life  of  Bishop  Capers,  it  is  a  pleasure  tc 
acknowledge  the  assistance  I  have  received  from  contributors 
and  friends. 

To  those  bishops  who  knew  and  honored  him  and  have 
herein  paid  their  tribute  to  his  memory,  expressing  so  beauti- 
fully the  love  and  esteem  in  which  they  held  him — to  them  I 
wish  to  record  my  gratitude  and  appreciation.  Bishop  Capers 
ever  cherished  as  sacred  any  expression  of  comradeship  and 
confidence  toward  him,  whether  given  by  the  humblest  or  the 
greatest  of  his  fellow-men.  But  no  experience  gave  him 
greater  happiness  than  such  expressions  from  his  brother 
bishops. 

To  those  whose  names  appear  in  the  volume  in  connection 
with  memoirs,  reminiscences,  and  anecdotes  I  also  wish  to 
express  my  appreciation,  both  for  the  material  furnished  and 
also  for  the  spirit  of  loyal  interest  which  prompted  the  con- 
tributions. 

It  was  at  the  suggestion  of  my  brother,  the  Very  Rev.  Wil- 
liam T.  Capers,  dean,  Christ  Church  Cathedral,  Lexington, 
Ky.,  that  I  was  led  to  undertake  this  work.  By  his  many 
admirable  suggestions  in  regard  to  the  method  of  securing 
certain  valuable  materials,  and  also  in  regard  to  the  work  in 
the  last  half  of  the  book,  I  profited  greatly. 

Bishop  Capers  is  survived  by  five  sons  and  two  daughters. 
They  are:  Frank  F.  Capers  (banker),  Greenville,  South 
Carolina;  John  G.  Capers  (United  States  District  Attorney 
for  South  Carolina);  Wm.  T.  Capers  (clergyman),  Lexing- 
ton, Ky. ;  Ellison,  Jr.  (merchant),  Summerton,  S.  C. ;  Walter 
B.  Capers  (clergyman).  Columbia,  Tenn. ;  Mrs.  C.  B.  Sat- 
terlee,  Columbia,  S.  C. ;  Mrs.  Wm.  H.  Johnson,  Charleston, 


8  FOREWORD 

S.  C.  As  soon  as  the  preparation  of  this  volume  was  begun 
they  promptly  offered  their  assistance  and  forwarded  to  the 
author  all  data  in  their  possession  bearing  upon  a  theme 
equally  dear  and  sacred  to  them  all. 

My  brother,  the  Hon.  John  G.  Capers,  had  for  a  number 
of  years  been  engaged  in  collecting  material  for  the  prepara- 
tion of  a  similar  work.  This  material  he  generously  turned 
over  to  me,  and  throughout  the  preparation  of  the  work  has 
rendered  invaluable  service  both  by  practical  suggestions  and 
scholarly  criticisms  in  those  chapters  relating  to  the  Capers 
family. 

With  a  grateful  sense  of  appreciation  for  all  assistance  ren- 
dered, I  have  thus  been  encouraged  to  complete  the  work, 
which,  though  not  without  its  discouragements,  has  had  also 
its  inspirations,  and  will,  I  trust,  bring  its  readers  into  that 
sweetest  of  all  experiences — the  heart-touch  of  a  man  who  was 
as  great  as  he  was  good. 

Walter  B.  Capers. 

Columbia,  Tenn. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.  The  Capers  Family 13 

II.  Childhood 24 

III.  Boyhood  and  Youth 31 

IV.  Military  Life 40 

V.  Opening  of  the  War So 

VI.  From  Shiloh  to  Jackson 57 

VII.  The  Nine  Hundred  and  Eighty  at  Chickamauga  ....  66 

VIII.  From  Dalton  to  Jonesboro 75 

IX.  Military  Reports 84 

X.  Gist's  Brigade  with  Hood  in  Tennessee 99 

XI.  In  the  Days  of  Reconstruction 118 

XII.  General  Capers  Enters  the  Church 129 

XIII.  Nine  Years  at  Christ  Church,  Greenville 143 

XIV.  Return  to  Greenville 155 

XV.  Nominated  State  Superintendent  of  Education   ....  160 

XVI.  Election  to  the  Diocese  of  Easton 178 

XVII.  Rector  of  Trinity  Church,  Columbia,  S.  C 187 

XVIII.  Bishop  Ellison  Capers i95 

XIX.  Labors  of  the  Episcopate 203 

XX.  The  University  of  the  South 227 

XXI.  Bishop  Capers  Becomes  Chancellor  of  the  University  of 

THE  South 235 

XXII.  Bishop  Capers'  Church manship 242 

XXIII.  Last  Days 266 

XXIV.  Tributes  from  the  Episcopate 276 

XXV.  Tributes  from  Clergy 289 

XXVI.  Tributes  from  Laymen  and  the  Press 307 

PART  II 

ADDRESSES  AND  SERMONS: 

Commencement  Address  Before  South  Carolina  Academy,  1886  .  318 

Memorial  Address  at  Greenville,  S.  C,  1890 33S 

Speech  at  Unveiling  of  Confederate  Monument  at  Chickamauga 

Battlefield,  1901 348 

Sermon  on  the  Day  Appointed  for  Prayer  and  Humiliation  on 

Occasion  of  Burial  of  President  Garfield,  1881 3Si 

Sermon  at  Consecration  of  Church  in  Selma,  Alabama,  1881  .     .  357 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Opposite  page 

Capers  Coat  of  Arms   ii 

Magill  Coat  of  Arms   xii 

The  Soldier-Bishop,   Ellison  Capers,  D.D frontispiece 

Mrs.  Ellison  Capers   40 

Lieutenant  Ellison  Capers   40 

Brigadier-General  Ellison  Capers,  C.  S.  A •       99 

Christ  Church,  Greenville,  S.  C 155 

Trinity  Church,  Columbia,  S.  C 187 

Bishop  Capers  as  Chancellor  of  the  University  of  the  South.  235 


opposite  page  xii. 


THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

ELLISON  CAPERS 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  CAPERS  FAMILY 


The  Capers  in  their  origin  were  probably  English.  However, 
after  diligent  and  careful  investigation  Francis  LeGrand 
Capers,  of  Pueblo,  Colo.,  concludes  the  family  name  to  have 
been  originally  Capier,  and  that  long  years  ago,  when  Flanders 
was  under  the  sovereignty  of  France,  the  Capers  resided  there 
and  were  Huguenots.  But  it  is  in  our  opinion  impossible  to 
trace  definitely  the  origin  of  the  family  prior  to  1689,  when 
the  brothers  Gabriel,  Richard,  and  William  Capers  came  to 
America  and  settled  on  the  seaboard  of  South  Carolina. 
Gabriel  taught  school,  and  later  the  Capers  bought  consid- 
erable property  on  the  mainland  and  became  extensive  planters. 
From  colonial  days  the  Capers  family  seem  to  have  been  promi- 
nent, influential,  and  wealthy,  and  "Capers  Island"  and  "Capers 
Inlet"  off  the  coast  of  South  Carolina  bear  the  family  name. 

In  his  autobiography  Bishop  William  Capers,  father  of  the 
subject  of  this  volume,  gives  the  following  interesting  sketch 
of  the  family  in  the  early  days  of  South  Carolina  history: 

"Our  name.  Capers,  I  suppose  to  be  derived  from  France, 
and  the  first  of  the  name  were  Huguenots.  Of  this,  however, 
I  am  not  certain,  nor  is  it  of  any  consequence.  I  remember 
to  have  heard  no  more  from  my  father  about  it  than  that  he 

13 


14  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

had  never  seen  the  name  in  any  English  catalogue  of  names. 
My  father's  name  was  William,  and  that  of  his  father  and 
grandfather,  Richard.  Of  my  father's  father  I  know  but  little 
more  than  he  died  in  middle  life,  leaving  two  sons,  George 
Sinclair  and  William,  and  no  daughters.  After  his  death,  my 
grandfather  having  contracted  an  unhappy  marriage,  my 
father's  uncle.  Major  Gabriel  Capers,  of  Christ  Church  Parish, 
became  his  foster  father,  and  did  nobly  by  him.  He  had  five 
daughters,  but  no  sons,  and  my  grandfather  became  his  son  in 
all  possible  respects.  My  great  grandfather  survived  his  son 
many  years,  a  large,  fat,  healthy  man,  of  peculiar  manners, 
dressing  in  ornaburgs  and  plaids  at  home,  and  with  broad- 
cloth and  silks,  stiffened  with  excess  of  gold  lace,  and  pow- 
dered wig  when  he  went  abroad. 

"A  different  kind  of  man  was  my  father,  whose  name  I  can- 
not mention  without  emotion  after  thirty-eight  years  since  I 
saw  him  buried.  I  have  studied  his  character  with  intense 
interest  and  honor  his  memory  in  every  feature  of  it  with  my 
whole  soul.  A  chivalrous  soldier  of  the  Revolution  was  he, 
whose  ardent  patriotism  cooled  not  to  the  last  hour  of  his 
life.  And  yet  after  a  few  years  in  the  legislature,  following 
the  establishment  of  peace,  he  held  no  civil  office  whatever, 
and  was  seldom  seen  on  public  occasions,  except  in  his  office 
as  major  of  brigade  to  muster  his  troops.  He  was  a  military 
man ;  the  war  of  the  Revolution  made  him  so,  and  to  muster  a 
brigade  seemed  his  highest  recreation.  But  no  man  I  ever 
knew  was  more  a  man  of  peace  than  my  father  was.  Social 
and  unselfish,  generous,  kind,  his  nature  was  impulsive,  but  it 
was  the  opposite  of  passionate.  Benevolence  supplied  his 
strongest  incentives,  and  the  serving  of  others  seemed  to  be  his 
favorite  mode  of  serving  himself.  I  never  knew  him  to  be 
involved  in  a  personal  difficulty  but  once,  and  then  it  was  on 
account  of  a  wrong  done  by  an  unreasonable  neighbor  to  one 
of  his  negroes. 

"My  father's  education  had  been  interrupted  by  the  Revolu- 
tionary war,  and  was,  therefore,  imperfect;  but  he  had  a  clear 


ELLISON  CAPERS  15 

and  strong  understanding,  was  fond  of  natural  philosophy  and 
mechanics,  wrote  with  ease  and  perspicuity,  and  in  conversa- 
tion was  eminently  engaging.  He  was  born  on  October  13, 
1758,  just  at  the  right  time,  he  was  fond  of  saying,  that  he 
might  have  a  full  share  in  his  country's  independence.  He  fought 
with  the  bravest  and  the  best,  first  as  lieutenant  in  the  Second 
Regiment,  when  General  Moultrie  was  colonel,  Marion  a 
lieutenant-colonel  and  Horry  a  captain,  and  afterward  until 
the  close  of  the  war,  as  one  of  General  Marion's  captains,  and 
was  also  his  intimate  friend.  He  was  one  of  the  defenders 
of  Charleston  in  the  battle  of  Fort  Sullivan;  was  in  the  battle 
of  Eutaw;  was  at  the  siege  of  Savannah,  when  Pulaski  fell, 
and  not  far  from  him  at  the  fatal  moment ;  was  at  the  battle  of 
Rugeley's  Mills,  which  happened  after  his  escape  from  prison 
in  Charleston,  and  before  he  had  rejoined  Marion.  Indeed, 
he  was  there  in  search  of  Marion,  whom  he  expected  to  find 
with  General  Gates,  but  found  not,  as  he  had  gone  on  an  expedi- 
tion to  Fort  Motte.  At  Stono,  where  the  lamented  Laurens 
fell,  he  was  present  and  fought  like  himself;  at  Charleston  he 
was  one  of  the  defenders  and  accompanied  Major  Huger  on 
the  service  which  on  their  return  proved  fatal  to  that  gallant 
officer,  by  the  false  alarm  through  the  inadvertence  of  a  senti- 
nel, whereby  many  lives  were  lost  by  the  fire  of  their  own 
countrymen  from  their  own  lines  of  defense.  And  in  addition 
to  these  services,  he  was  engaged  in  numerous  skirmishes, 
which  have  never  found  a  record  in  the  books,  though  they 
contributed  no  mean  quota  to  the  defense  of  their  country." 

The  ancestry  of  William  Capers  has  already  been  referred 
to  and  therefore  it  is  only  necessary  to  state  here  that  he  was 
born  in  Saint  Thomas  Parish,  South  Carolina,  January  26, 
1790.  Receiving  his  early  education  in  private  schools,  he 
was  prepared  to  enter  the  State  College  at  Columbia,  which  he 
did  in  1805.  He  easily  won  distinction  in  his  studies,  but 
voluntarily  withdrew  in  his  senior  year,  returning  home  to 
begin  the  study  of  law  in  the  office  of  Judge  John  S.  Richard- 
son, Statesburg,  S.  C.     In  1807  he  became  a  licentiate  of  the 


i6  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

Methodist  ministry  and  began  his  life's  work  by  assisting  the 
Rev.  Wilham  Gassoway  on  his  circuit.  After  two  years  of 
such  training  he  was  given  a  circuit  of  his  own,  and  from  that 
humble  beginning  he  rapidly  rose  to  usefulness  and  eminence. 
He  was  perhaps  the  youngest  preacher  in  his  Conference,  and 
yet  he  was  successively  appointed  to  the  influential  churches 
of  Fayetteville,  N.  C,  Wilmington,  N.  C,  Savannah,  Ga., 
Charleston  and  Columbia,  S.  C. 

In  the  year  1819  the  Missionary  Society  of  the  Methodist 
Church  was  organized  in  New  York  City,  and  in  1821  Bishop 
McKendree  appointed  Mr.  Capers  to  the  important  work  of 
organizing  missions  among  the  Creek  Indians  in  Georgia,  their 
reservations  being  then  on  the  frontier  of  the  Conference. 
Leaving  his  family  in  Savannah,  Ga.,  until  April,  Mr.  Capers 
set  out  on  horseback  on  an  extensive  tour  of  appointments,  for 
the  purpose  of  arousing  public  interest  in  the  moral  and 
religious  improvement  of  the  Indians.  He  visited  the  Creek 
Nation  the  following  fall,  and  established  permanent  missions 
among  them.  It  was  while  engaged  in  this  work  thai  he 
became  popularly  known  as  "the  Apostle  to  the  Creeks."  Mr. 
Capers  was  a  devoted  missionary,  and  to  him  was  due  the 
organization  of  successful  missionary  work  among  the  slaves  in 
the  South.  The  Methodist  Church  officially  recognized  him  as 
the  inspiration  and  founder  of  her  work  among  the  negroes. 

In  1825  William  Capers  became  editor  of  the  Wesleyan 
Journal,  and  remained  editor  when  at  a  later  date  the  Journal 
and  Christian  Advocate  were  consolidated.  This  editorial 
work  was  done  while  he  was  successfully  administering  to  one 
of  the  largest  congregations  in  Charleston. 

At  the  General  Conference  held  in  Pittsburgh,  Penn.,  1828, 
Mr.  Capers  was  elected  as  the  representative  of  the  American 
Methodist  Church  to  the  British  Conference,  which  con- 
vened in  London,  Eng.  How  well  he  filled  his  mission  may 
be  inferred  from  the  following  quotations  from  resolutions 
adopted  by  the  British  Conference : 

"Resolve  I. — That  it  is  with  the  most  cordial  satisfaction 


ELLISON  CAPERS  17 

and  sincere  gratitude  to  God  that  this  Conference  has  heard 
the  most  interesting  communication  now  made  by  the  Rev. 
Wilham  Capers,  respecting  the  extraordinary  work  of  God 
now  carried  on  through  the  instrumentahty  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States  of  America.     . 

"Resolve  IIL — That  the  cordial  thanks  of  this  Conference 
are  due  to  the  General  Conference  in  America,  for  their 
excellent  representative,  Mr.  Capers,  whose  amiable  manners, 
devout  spirit,  and  acceptable  ministry  have  greatly  endeared 
him  to  the  preachers  now  assembled,  and  confirm  their  feelings 
of  respect  and  attachment  toward  their  American  brethren 
at  large. 

"Resolve  IV. — That  the  warmest  thanks  of  the  Conference 
are  hereby  presented  to  Mr.  Capers  for  the  great  ability, 
Christian  spirit,  and  brotherly  kindness  with  which  he  has  dis- 
charged the  duties  of  his  honorable  mission;  and  the  Confer- 
ence respectfully  assures  him  that  their  most  fervent  prayers 
for  his  welfare  will  attend  him  on  his  return  to  his  native 
country,  and  that  he  will  long  retain  a  high  place  in  their 
affectionate  remembrance." 

In  1835  Mr.  Capers  was  pastor  of  the  Washington  Street 
Methodist  Church.  Columbia,  S.  C.  The  State  College  was 
then,  as  now,  located  in  that  city.  By  action  of  the  trustees 
Mr.  Capers  was  elected  to  the  chair  of  English  in  the  college, 
and  it  Avas  about  this  time  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divinity  was 
conferred  upon  him  by  his  alma  mater.  During  a  continued 
absence  of  the  president  the  faculty  elected  Mr.  Capers  to 
preside  over  the  institution. 

When  the  Methodist  Church  divided  North  and  South 
(1844),  the  question  of  slavery  was  involved  in  the  contro- 
versy. Mr.  Capers  was  a  recognized  leader  in  the  debates, 
and  was  found  a  champion  for  the  rights  of  the  Southern 
section.  A  year  later,  as  chairman  of  the  Committee  on 
Organization,  he  was  the  recognized  organizer  of  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church,  South.  At  the  first  General  Confer- 
ence after  the  organization  of  the   Southern  branch  of  the 


i8  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

Church  he  was  elected  Bishop.  He  administered  the 
affairs  of  his  office  with  great  abiHty,  and  is  thus  referred  to 
in  resolutions  adopted  by  the  Spartanburg  Conference,  when 
the  news  of  his  death  reached  that  body  then  in  session:  "He 
was  distinguished  for  the  possession  of  high  powers  of  elo- 
quent speech ;  original  thought  and  a  captivating  elegance  of 
manner  in  the  pulpit;  for  business  tact  and  management  of 
affairs  at  the  Annual  Conferences;  for  the  charm  of  extraor- 
dinary powers  of  pleasing  in  the  social  circle,  and  for  the 
urbanity  of  manners  distinguishing  the  South  Carolina  gen- 
tleman of  the  old  school;  all  these  elements  of  powers  were 
laid  under  contribution  to  the  one  great  object  and  aim  of  his 
Hfe." 

The  work  of  his  bishopric  frequently  carried  him  into  dif- 
ferent sections  of  the  South  and  Southwest,  as  far  as  Missouri, 
Oklahoma  Territory,  and  the  State  of  Texas.  Upon  one  of 
his  long  journeys  he  heard  and  saw  a  great  deal  of  the  fearful 
ravages  of  cholera,  and  he  thus  gratefully  acknowledged  the 
merciful  Providence  that  protected  him.  In  a  letter  home 
he  writes :  "In  all  my  travels  for  more  than  forty  years,  on 
horseback,  by  stage-coach,  on  railroad,  by  ship  and  by  steam- 
boat, no  accident  has  ever  happened  to  hurt  me  or  anyone 
else  traveling  with  me,  to  this  day." 

This  remarkable  statement  is  of  especial  interest  to  us, 
because  his  son  of  whom  we  write,  after  journeyings  often, 
in  which  there  was  an  abundance  of  exposure  and  hardship, 
never  suffered  a  serious  accident  or  mishap  while  engaged  in 
the  work  of  his  ministry  and  episcopate. 

From  the  description  his  biographer  gives  us  of  Bishop 
William  Capers,  his  son  Ellison  closely  resembled  his  tal- 
ented father.  The  elder  Capers  was  of  somewhat  smaller 
stature,  and  his  eyes  and  hair  were  dark,  while  the  younger 
Capers  was  six  feet  in  height,  and  in  the  latter  years  of  his 
life  weighed  one  hundred  and  ninety- four  pounds.  His  hair 
was  light  and  his  eyes  a  blue-gray. 

"Bishop    William    Capers    was    of    medium    height,    well 


ELLISON  CAPERS  19 

formed  and  a  little  inclined  to  corpulency  in  the  advance  of 
life.  His  face  was  fine  and  its  expression  of  combined  intelli- 
gence and  amiability.  His  eye  was  black  and  lustrous ;  it  indi- 
cated vivacity  of  temperament ;  it  seemed  gifted  with  the  power 
of  reading  human  character  at  a  glance.  The  teeth  were  perfect 
and  the  lips  thin,  indicating  decision.  The  chest  was  round 
and  full,  the  voice  clear  in  its  ring  and  as  melodious  as  a 
chime  of  bells.  Thus  nature  had  given  him  the  necessary 
physique  for  an  orator.  His  manners  were  those  of  an 
accomplished  gentleman.  The  ease,  affability,  the  finish  and 
freedom  from  professional  crotchets,  arose  from  his  native 
kindness  of  heart,  his  careful  early  training,  and  the  large 
knowledge  of  the  world  to  which  his  calling  had  naturally 
lead  him.  Dignity  of  person  and  the  various  elements  which 
make  up  weight  of  character  were  added  to  an  intellect  dis- 
tinguished for  its  keenness,  vigor,  and  readiness.  His  mind 
was  well  balanced,  practical,  and  solid;  awake  to  the  senti- 
ments of  the  beautiful  and  fitted  by  culture  to  appreciate  and 
enjoy  this  sentiment  in  nature  and  in  man.  His  powers  of 
conversation  were  remarkable.  He  loved  to  talk,  and  in 
talking  shone  without  effort.  A  genial  spirit  of  humor,  racy 
without  coarseness;  a  vein  of  deep  reflection;  an  unborrowed 
fund  of  anecdote,  all  ready  to  be  laid  under  contribution  for 
the  instruction  and  entertainment  of  those  who  listened,  made 
his  society  very  charming."* 

Bishop  Ellison  Capers  also  resembled  his  father  in  that  he 
too  was  "a  man  of  strong  family  feeling,  and  no  one  could 
enjoy  his  home  more  than  he." 

From  the  following,  written  by  Bishop  Ellison  Capers,  it 
appears  that  he  differed  with  his  father  as  to  the  origin  of  the 
family : 

"The  name  Capers  first  appears  in  South  Carolina.  All 
of  the  name  who  have  lived  in  other  States  or  territories, 
subsequent  to  the  Revolution,  went  out  from  South  Carolina, 
and  can  clearly  be  traced  to  the  South  Carolina  Capers,  as, 
for  instance,  the  Capers  in  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Louisiana, 

*Whightman's  Biography. 


20  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

and  Missouri.    The  earliest  record  of  the  name  that  I  know  of 
is  here  (Columbia,  South  Carolina)  in  the  Secretary  of  State's 
Office.     In  May,   1694,  two  grants  of  land  from  the  Lords 
Proprietors  are  on  record,  being  two  plantations  sold  by  them 
to  William  Capers.     Sixty  years  ago  there  was  a  large  house 
in  Liverpool,  England,  by  the  name  of  'James  Capers  &  Co.' 
The  name  appears  in  the  early  records  of  the  English  Church 
in  this  colony  and  State;  and  my  great  uncle  and  my  great 
grandfather  were  vestrymen  of  the  Parish  of  Christ  Church. 
Taking  these  facts  into  consideration,  I  am  of  the  opinion  that 
the  original  Capers,  perhaps  the  William  of  record  in  1694, 
came   from   England.     He  paid  a  considerable   sum  on  his 
plantations,  and  by  the  terms  of  the  sale  he  was  to  pay  other 
sums  every  six  months,  so  that  I  conclude  he  had  some  money 
in  1694,  fourteen  years  after  the  establishment  of  Charleston 
(1680),  and  twenty-four  years  after  the  first  colony  under 
Sayle  landed  on  the  Ashley  River.    The  Capers  in  South  Caro- 
lina in  the  last  of  the  seventeenth  century  and  in  the  eighteenth 
were  all  on  the  coast,  mostly  in  old  Berkeley  and  Georgetown 
counties,  north  of  Charleston,  and  on  the  islands  and  in  Beau- 
fort county,   south  of  Charleston,  and  were  all  planters  or 
farmers.    The  sons  of  my  grandfather,  my  father  and  uncles, 
were  the  first  professional  men,  and  were  clergymen  of  the 
Methodist  denomination.    Before  my  grandfather's  conversion 
to  the  Methodist,  the  name  was  always  associated  with  the 
Church  of  England.     This  appears  in  Dr.  Dalcho's  history  of 
the  Church  in  South  Carolina,  and  in  the  old  parish  registers. 
I  am  satisfied  our  forefathers  came  over  from  England.     If 
they  had  been  French  people  their  names  would  appear  some- 
where among  the  names  of  the  Huguenots,  and  they  would 
have  been  hostile  to  the  Church  of  England,  or  at  least  Presby- 
terians or  Calvinists.     There  are  Capers  now  in  Liverpool." 

Bishop  Ellison  Capers'  conclusion  that  the  family  is  English 
finds  its  strongest  support,  in  our  opinion,  in  the  fact  of  its 
affiliation  with  the  Church  of  England  during  the  colonial 
period,  for,  as  he  suggests,  if  the  family  had  been  French  its 


ELLISON  CAPERS  21 

name  would  have  appeared  somewhere  among  the  Huguenots, 
and  would  in  all  probability  have  been  hostile  to  the  established 
worship  of  the  colony.  But  such  was  not  the  case.  The  Parish 
Register  of  old  Christ  Church  furnishes  us  with  the  most  con- 
vincing e\'idence  that  the  Capers  who  founded  the  family  in 
South  Carolina  were  not  only  identified  with  the  Colonial 
Church,  but  were  also  prominent  officials  in  that  historic  parish. 
Christ  Church  is  six  miles  from  Mount  Pleasant,  near  Charles- 
ton, and  is  one  of  the  eight  parishes  established  by  act  of 
Assembly  in  1706.  The  present  building  was  erected  after  the 
Revolution,  the  original  church  having  been  burned  by  the 
British.  Some  years  before  the  first  church  was  erected  the 
following  record  appears  in  the  parish  register  :* 

BIRTHS 

May  6th.  1696.  Mary,  daughter  of  William  Capers  and  Mary 

his  wife. 
December  15th,   1698.     William,  son  of  ^^'illiam  and  Mary 

Capers. 
June  qth.   1701.     Elizabeth,  daughter  of  William  and  Mary 

Capers. 
April  28th,  1 71 2.     Richard,  son  of  William  and  Mary  Capers. 

BAPTISMS 

June  8th.  1729.    Mary,  daughter  of  Thomas  and  IMary  Capers. 

MARRIAGES 

January  9th,    1741.    Richard  Capers  and  Elizabeth  Bouhoist. 

spinster. 
January  3d.  1753.    Peter  Leguieu  and  Amerlia  Capers,  widow. 

BURIALS 

April  28th,  1720.     Mary  Capers,  widow. 

July  15th,  1739.    Ann,  wife  of  Richard  Capers. 

March  i8th,  1739.    Mary  Capers. 

*The  church  was  completed  1706. 


22  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

In  the  days  of  the  Colonial  Church  the  common  law  required 
wardens  and  vestrymen  to  take  the  oath  of  office.  We  find  one 
William  Capers  subscribing  to  the  oath  as  warden,  1708,  1709. 
1712,  and  again  in  1717  and  1718,  and  Richard  Capers,  son  of 
William,  taking  the  same  oath  in  1 736. 

From  the  establishment  of  the  family  in  South  Carolina, 
1689,  to  1794  (more  than  a  hundred  years),  when  Richard 
Capers,  grandfather  of  Ellison  Capers,  became  identified  with 
the  Methodist  Church,  the  Capers  family  and  all  its  branches 
were  Church  of  England  people. 

In  his  autobiography  Bishop  William  Capers  tells  us  of  the 
circumstances  which  brought  his  father  to  accept  Methodism, 
and  this  explains  his  own  connection  with  that  Church.  He 
says :  "It  was  on  the  first  introduction  of  Methodism  into 
South  Carolina  that,  under  the  preaching  of  Henry  Willis  of 
blessed  memory,  my  father  was  awakened  and  converted  and 
became  a  soldier  of  the  Prince  of  Peace.  His  name  may  be 
seen  in  the  original  conveyances  for  the  first  two  Methodist 
churches  in  Charleston.  After  his  removal  to  Georgetown, 
1794,  he  became  a  pillar  of  the  infant  church,  serving  as 
trustee,  steward,  and  elder." 

Captain  William  Capers  becoming  thus  identified  with  the 
Methodists,  it  was  but  natural  that  his  children  should  follow 
their  father  into  the  Church  of  his  adoption. 

According  to  the  family  register  of  the  Rev.  Robert  Magill, 
of  Millrow  Presbyterian  Church,  Antrim  Island,  the  family 
of  Ellison  Capers'  mother,  Susan  Magill,  is  Irish.  James 
B.  Magill,  after  his  marriage  to  Sarah  Boyd,  coming  directly 
from  Antrim,  established  the  family  in  Chester  District, 
South  Carolina.  Susan  Magill  was  the  daughter  of  William 
and  Ann  Magill  of  Kershaw  District,  and  the  adopted 
daughter  of  Mrs.  Peter  Horry,  widow  of  General  Horry, 
the  famous  patriot  and  partisan  leader  in  South  Carolina 
during  the  American  Revolution. 

We  have  sketched  the  ancestry  of  the  Capers,  and  it  will  be 
of  interest  to  learn  something  of  the   forebears  of   Bishop 


ELLISON  CAPERS  23 

William  Capers  on  his  maternal  side.  His  mother  was  Mary 
Singeltary,  daughter  of  John  and  Sarah  Singeltary,  of  Cain 
Hoy,  on  the  Nando,  near  Charleston.  In  an  old  sermon 
preached  by  a  Mr.  Hammet  at  the  funeral  service  of  John 
Singeltary,  the  clergyman  speaks  of  his  well-known  charity 
to  the  poor,  his  unostentatious  piety,  and  his  noble  traits  of 
character,  and  calls  on  his  neighbors  to  emulate  the  deceased's 
example.  He  had  an  only  son,  a  gallant  and  spirited 
soldier  of  the  Revolution,  who  was  killed  in  a  skir- 
mish with  a  troop  of  Tarleton's  cavalry,  under  the  fol- 
lowing circumstances :  In  the  engagement  his  horse  became 
unmanageable  and  carried  him  through  the  enemy's  lines,  and 
while  fighting  his  way  back  to  his  friends,  single-handed,  he 
was  surrounded  and  cut  to  pieces  by  the  merciless  foe. 

The  name  Singeltary  is  not  the  same  as  the  name  Single- 
tary  so  common  in  South  Carolina. 


CHAPTER  II 

CHILDHOOD 

I  PROPOSE  to  put  in  writing  in  this  book*  the  facts  of  my  life 
which  will  be  of  interest  to  my  children.  My  father  made  such 
a  record  of  his  life,  which  has  given  his  children  the  greatest 
satisfaction,  for  assuredly  nothing  which  concerns  our  ances- 
tors can  be  of  indifference  to  their  offspring. 

The  love  and  devotion  which  my  children  have  ever  shown 
me  makes  this  simple  journal  both  a  duty  and  a  pleasure  to  me, 
for  while  my  life  has  not  been  such  as  to  merit  the  distinction 
of  a  book  about  myself,  it  has  been  an  eventful  one  to  me  and 
mine,  and  especially  in  its  connection  with  our  great  civil  war 
will  possess  in  after  years  a  peculiar  interest  to  my  descendants. 

I  have  been  in  the  habit  of  keeping  a  journal,  and  especially 
during  the  war  I  was  careful  to  note  the  events  in  which  I  took 
part,  and  these  journals  I  will  simply  transcribe,  with  such 
remarks  as  may  make  the  circumstances  more  clearly  under- 
stood. 

All  the  ofificial  papers  in  my  possession  touching  my  services 
as  a  Confederate  soldier  I  sent  to  the  War  Department  in 
Washington,  at  the  request  of  the  Department,  that  they  might 
be  published  in  the  official  records  of  the  war,  and  filed  in 
Washington  for  safe-keeping,  subject  to  my  order  if  desired. 

*In  1888,  while  rector  of  Trinity  Church,  Columbia,  S.  C,  Dr.  Capers 
began  a  Journal,  in  which  he  proposed  to  record  those  facts  and  inci- 
dents in  his  life  which  he  felt  would  be  of  special  interest  to  his  family. 
However,  the  overwhelming  and  constant  demands  upon  his  time  pre- 
vented him  from  going  very  much  beyond  the  beginning  of  the  war, 
and  while  a  part  of  this  journal  has  been  lost,  we  take  advantage  of 
what  remains  to  let  him  tell  us  for  himself  of  his  childhood  and  youth. 

24 


ELLISON  CAPERS  25 

I  had  a  copy  of  them  made  before  sending  them  to  Washing- 
ton, and  this  copy  I  shall  refer  to  hereafter  in  connection  with 
events  related  in  my  journal. 

Having  said  so  much  about  my  journal,  I  will  now  begin 
the  record,  assured  that  those  for  whom  I  write  will  read  it 
with  interest,  and  prize  it  for  my  sake. 

I  was  born  in  Charleston,  on  the  14th  of  October.  1837,  at 
my  father's  residence  in  Calhoun  Street,  then  called  Boundary 
Street.  The  house  is  still  standing  on  the  north  side  of  Cal- 
houn Street,  a  few  doors  east  of  Pitt. 

In  my  youth  I  often  passed  it  in  company  with  my  mother, 
and  recall  how  often  and  how  tenderly  she  would  refer  to  it 
as  the  place  of  my  nativity.  I  never  pass  it  without  thinking 
of  that  dear  mother,  and  though  I  have  no  personal  recollection 
of  the  house  as  my  father's  residence,  a  feeling  of  grateful 
respect  and  tenderness  is  sure  to  rise  in  my  heart  when  I  pass 
this  humble  little  home  of  my  infancy.  At  the  time  of  my 
birth  my  father  was  editing  the  Southern  Christian  Advocate, 
published  in  Charleston,  but  being  appointed  to  superintend 
the  missionary  interests  of  the  Methodist  Church  in  the  South- 
ern States  he  removed  from  Charleston  in  the  summer  of  1840, 
and  purchased  a  home  in  Oxford.  Ga..  selecting  that  locality 
because  of  the  opportunity  of  placing  my  older  brothers  at 
Emory  College,  situated  in  that  place. 

The  home  in  Oxford  is  the  home  of  my  earliest  recollections. 
Incidents  which  seem  too  trivial  to  record  possess  for  me  a 
sacred  interest,  and  I  often  think  of  our  Oxford  home,  and 
recall  the  incidents  of  the  two  years  spent  there  with  increasing 
interest.  As  a  matter  of  some  interest  in  noting  the  earliest 
distinct  records  of  memory  I  refer  to  this  era  in  my  life,  for 
I  was  not  three  years  old  when  we  removed  to  Oxford,  and  I 
remember  the  old  cars  from  Charleston  to  Hamburg,  and  our 
arrival  in  Oxford,  and  the  new  scenes  and  novel  experiences  of 
our  country  home,  as  clearly  in  my  memory  as  if  the  whole 
had  transpired  only  a  few  years  ago !    And  yet  I  do  not  remem- 


26  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

ber  the  circumstances  of  our  removal  back  to  Charleston  in  the 
fall  of  1842.  I  remember  only  the  circumstances  of  my  walk- 
ing from  the  depot  in  Charleston  to  our  house  in  Rutledge 
Avenue,  with  my  uncle.  LeGrand  G.  Capers,  who  met  us  on 
our  arrival.  The  house  on  the  avenue  I  remember  perfectly. 
I  believe  it  is  still  standing.  My  father  sold  his  property  in 
Oxford,  and  rented  his  home  in  Charleston,  occupying  at  dif- 
ferent times  houses  in  different  parts  of  the  city,  until  in  the 
fall  (I  think  it  was)  of  1847  he  removed  to  a  comfortable 
house  in  St.  Philips  Street  which  had  been  purchased  and 
given  to  him  and  my  mother  during  their  lives  by  the  kindness 
of  friends  in  Charleston.  The  house  stands  on  the  west  side 
of  St.  Philips  Street,  about  midway  between  Radcliffe  and 
Mary  streets.  Here  I  spent  happy  years  of  childhood,  and  by 
way  of  indicating  the  spirit  of  that  childhood  I  will  transcribe 
some  lines  written  in  the  fly-leaf  of  a  book  given  to  me  by 
my  father : 

"Who    more    fond    of    having    fun 

Lessons    said    and    sums    all    done, 

Than  this  same  boy,  Ellison ! 

But  I  tell  you  what,  my  son, 

To  be  always  having  fun 

And   no    sums    and    lessons    done 

Will  not  do   for  Ellison. 

Have  the   fun  of   getting  on 
And  being  smart,   my  Ellison !" 

About  the  same  time  he  wrote  in  pencil,  on  the  margin  of 
a  little  book  he  bought  for  my  brother  Oddy,  called  "The 
Ladder  of  Learning,"  these  lines : 

"Step    by    step,    go    it,    Oddy! 
Step   by   step   everybody 

Goes  it  too ; 
Go  it,  Oddy, 
And  let  nobody 

Outgo   you !" 

And  nobly  did  Oddy  mount  that  ladder  of  learning,  graduat- 


ELLISON  CAPERS  27 

ing  at  Wofford  College  in  i860,  with  the  first  honor  of  his 
class. 

I  went  to  school  in  Charleston  to  Miss  Susan  Thierce,  to 
Mrs.  David  Dewick,  and  lastly  to  the  "Charleston  High 
School."  In  1850  my  brother  Henry  and  myself  were  sent 
to  the  Conference  School  at  Cokesbury,  in  Abbeville  County, 
my  brother-in-la\v,  Professor  George  W.  Stone,  and  after- 
wards my  brother,  Francis  W.  Capers,  being  in  charge.  In 
1852  my  father  having  purchased  a  home  near  Anderson 
C.  H.,  Henry  and  I  were  put  to  school  at  the  village  Academy 
in  Anderson,  taught  by  the  Rev.  John  W.  Carlisle.  The 
removal  to  Anderson  took  place  in  the  fall  or  summer  of  1852, 
the  house  in  Charleston  being  rented  out.  My  father  pur- 
chased a  small  tract  of  land  adjoining  the  lands  and  home  of 
my  brother-in-law,  Samuel  B.  Jones,  and  built  his  house  and 
outbuildings,  giving  us  the  delightful  employment  of  cutting 
down  trees,  burning  brush,  hunting  rabbits  and  partridges,  and 
enjoying  the  experiences,  so  novel  to  us,  of  a  happy  country 
life.  He  called  his  place  "Box  Cottage,"  and  it  was  at  Box 
Cottage  in  1852  and  1853  I  spent  the  happiest  days  of  my 
youth. 

In  January,  1853,  Henry  entered  South  Carolina  Military 
Academy,  of  which  my  brother,  Francis  W.  Capers,  had  been 
elected  superintendent,  and  Oddy  and  I  were  left  at  Box  Cot- 
tage with  our  mother  and  sister  Mary.  My  father's  duties  as 
a  Methodist  bishop  required  his  frequent  and  protracted 
absence  from  home,  so  that  the  oversight  of  his  little  farm  and 
the  management  of  home  affairs  were  left  to  our  mother, 
whose  agent  I  became,  now  that  Henry  was  away.  And  a 
delightful  occupation  I  found  it,  to  look  after  the  horses,  cows, 
goats,  hogs,  fow4s,  with  which  my  father  had  provided  his 
farm,  and  the  novel  employment  of  planting  a  crop  and  a 
garden  was  to  me  a  most  entertaining  occupation.  I  wish  I 
could  write  of  my  honored  father  so  as  to  give  my  children 
a  vivid  conception  of  his  character!  This  I  cannot  hope  to 
do,  but  I  will  copy  in  part  a  letter  received  from  him  at  the 


28  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

beginning  of  the  year  1853,  which  will  show  his  devotion  to 
his  children  and  the  pains  he  ever  took  to  teach  and  direct  us : 

SuMTERViLLEj  Jan.  loth,  '53. 
My  Dear  Ellison  : — 

I  too  was  sorry  enough  that  I  could  not  meet  you  with  your 
mother  and  take  a  day  or  two  at  home  before  coming  hither 
to  Conference;  but  it  is  now  past,  and  being  so,  only  serves 
to  add  one  little  instance  to  the  thousands  which  had  gone 
before  it,  to  show  that  we  had  always  better  be  content  with 
only  so  much  pastime  as  may  consist  with  duty  than  sacrifice 
the  least  mite  of  a  positive  obligation  to  pleasurable  in- 
dulgences. As  far  as  you  are  individually  concerned,  I  do 
not  know  that  I  should  have  found  more  pleasure  in  seeing 
you  at  home  than  I  have  felt  in  getting  the  present  letter  from 
you;  and  I  answer  it  in  the  midst  of  the  business  of  a  confer- 
ence session  that  you  may  have  some  proof  of  my  apprecia- 
tion of  it.  Only  don't  write  so  fast,  but  take  more  pains 
with  your  penmanship  till  you  have,  by  use,  acquired  a  fixed 
hand. 

I  dare  say,  my  son,  you  have  done  very  well  with  respect 
to  the  pigs  and  the  garden,  and  many  other  things  of  that 
sort.  Suppose  you  make  a  calculation  as  to  how  much  corn 
it  will  take  to  feed  a  pig  twelve  months,  allowing  for  his 
growth  and  increase  of  food  accordingly,  and  what  will  be  the 
cost  of  pork  at  150  pounds  to  each  pig  a  year  old?  The  last 
corn  crop  being  a  full  one  will  make  pork  cheaper  next  win- 
ter, so  that  what  we  produce  ought  not  to  cost  us  more  than 
four  or  four  and  a  half  cents,  i^evertheless,  feed  the  pigs, 
for  whether  any  of  them  be  kept  for  bacon  next  winter  or  no, 
we  must  have  a  chance  at  them  in  the  scarce  months  of 
March,  April  and  May.  By  the  way,  when  you  see  chickens 
dressed  for  the  cook,  weigh  them;  or  if  you  have  the  luck  to 
find  a  turkey  ready  for  the  spit,  weigh  it,  or  a  duck,  and  see 
how  the  price,  at  so  much  for  each  one,  tallies  with  the  price 
of  pork.     Pork  must  cost  us  seven  cents  a  pound,  and  I  dare 


ELLISON  CAPERS  29 

say.  that  even  as  a  matter  of  economy,  chickens  and  hens  at 
10  to  T2^/<  cents  may  be  preferred  as  beinio-  cheaper,  as  well 
as  a  pleasanter  food.     But  enong-h  of  this. 

You  ask  me  where  yon  shall  sro  to  school.  My  dear  son. 
the  more  important  question :  "^^^hat  Avill  von  do  when  von 
go  to  school?"  You  say.  and  you  put  it  in  larjo-e  letters,  that 
you  were  never  born  to  learn  Latin  and  Greek.  How  do  von 
know?  I  am  sure  you  were  as  well  born  as  anv  of  mv  chil- 
dren, and  I  have  no  doubt  born  for  as  much.  Your  difficultv 
in  learningf  Latin  and  Greek  proceeds  whollv  from  a  want  of 
attention.  You  have  not  fixed  your  mind  attentively  on  this 
word  or  that,  this  rule  or  that  (necessary  to  be  known),  to 
retain  them  fixedlv  in  your  mind,  but  it  is  the  result  of  habit, 
and  this  habit  you  must  correct,  or  you  will  neither  learn 
Latin  and  Greek,  nor  anything-  else.  You  are  capable.  Elli- 
son, of  learning  anything,  without  this  single  impedi- 
ment. 

Discipline  is  indispensable  to  knowledge,  and  when  you  have 
acquired  the  power  over  yourself  to  stand  still  when  you 
want  to  run.  to  be  silent  when  you  want  to  talk,  to  rise 
early  when  you  choose  to  lie  late  in  bed,  you  will  have  gotten 
on  the  way  to  fix  your  attention  on  any  subject  which  may 
be  presented  to  you  for  study.  And  in  this  way.  as  in  most 
all  others,  the  advantage  will  be  found  to  increase  with  the 
line  of  progress.  You  will  find  a  high  satisfaction  in  the 
knowledge  you  gain,  and  scarcely  less  in  finding  out  that  you 
have  only  to  try  and  keep  on  trying  to  accomplish  just  any- 
thing you  please.  You  may  become  at  the  age  of  your  brother 
Frank  (and  I  say  it  with  the  greatest  regard  for  his  talents 
and  learning)  as  able  a  scholar  and  as  smart  a  man  in  every 
respect  as  he.  Go  where  you  may,  or  to  whom  you  may,  it  is 
not  in  school  or  teacher  to  do  anything  of  any  account  for  you 
without  yourself.  And  this  is  what  you  have  to  do  for  your- 
self:  You  must  discipline  yourself  to  do  what  you  dislike,  and 
to  do  it  with  attention,  for  the  sake  of  the  benefits  to  be 
derived  from  the  unpleasant  and  irksome  duty.     You  must 


30  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

learn  to  study  by  learning  to  deny  yourself.  Fix  your  hours 
(not  too  many,  but  a  few  in  a  day  at  first),  and  use  to-day  for 
what  it  shall  produce  to-morrow.  I  would  feel  confident  of 
your  making  an  able  man,  and  an  honor  to  all  about  you,  if 
you  would  but  do  this  with  respect  to  books  and  study.  May 
God  bless  you,  my  son.  Let  Oddy  read  this  letter.  Much 
love  and  kisses  to  mother,  sisters  and  all. 

Your  afifectionate  father, 

W.  Capers. 


CHAPTER  III 

BOYHOOD  AND  YOUTH 

The  following,  from  an  affectionate  and  interesting  memoir 
of  the  childhood  and  boyhood  days  of  Ellison  Capers,  is  con- 
tributed by  his  brother,  Colonel  Henry  D.  Capers,  of  Atlanta, 
Georgia : 

In  his  boyhood,  indeed  through  the  youthful  part  of  his 
life,  Ellison  was  not  noted  for  studious  habits.  Although 
endowed  with  a  very  bright  mind,  he  did  not  manifest  any 
great  fondness  for  his  text-books.  Quick  to  perceive  from 
oral  suggestions,  he  acquired  knowledge  more  by  a  process 
of  mental  absorption  and  in  contact  with  persons  whose  narra- 
tive of  past  events  would  interest  him  than  by  methods  of 
analysis.  The  objective  method  of  instruction  was  pleasing 
to  his  young  mind,  but  such  was  the  flow  of  his  spirit  that 
he  could  not  at  this  early  period  be  held  to  any  subjective 
process  of  investigation.  Always  ready  for  some  amusement, 
his  mind  would  break  away  from  an  irksome  task  and  wander 
to  playgrounds,  where  he  was  always  a  leader  among  the  boys 
and  sure  to  be  a  favorite  with  the  girls. 

Our  father,  the  son  of  an  officer  in  the  Continental  Army, 
and  later  with  General  Marion's  Legion  of  Partisan  Rangers, 
had  often  entertained  his  sons  with  the  thrilling  stories  of  the 
Revolutionary  War  of  1776.  The  4th  of  July  was  with  him, 
as  with  his  sons,  to  be  recognized  as  the  anniversary  of  Ameri- 
can Independence.  His  honored  hands  would  often  contribute 
to  aid  us  in  devising  such  amusements  as  would  fix  in  our 
minds  the  spirit  of  the  occasion.  For  days  before  the  advent 
of  Independence  Day  we  were  getting  ready  to  celebrate  its 
return  with  the  zeal  of  young  patriots.  In  the  rear  of  his 
large  garden  in  our  Philips  Street  home  in  Charleston  he  had 
given  us  permission  to  construct  on  a  small  scale  a  crude  imita- 
tion of  a  fort.    Such  as  it  was,  it  served  its  purpose  as  a  place 

31 


32  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

at  which  we  were  to  play  the  soldier  when  the  4th  of  July 
should  come  to  arouse  our  boyish  spirits  to  the  highest  pitch 
of  patriotic  enthusiasm.  Some  one  of  my  elder  friends 
had  given  me  the  breech  section  of  a  musket,  not  more  than 
twelve  or  eighteen  inches  long,  and  neatly  mounted  upon  a 
block  of  oak  wood.  This  was  to  serve  as  the  gun  that  was  to 
defend  our  Fort  Marion  from  all  comers.  Just  behind  the 
wonderful  earthwork  we  had  erected  a  flagstaff, — a  long  fish- 
ing pole  or  cane, — from  the  top  of  which  floated  the  "Star 
Spangled  Banner"  all  were  taught  to  honor. 

At  last  the  long  expected  day  arrived.  With  its  first  dawn 
we  were  up,  keenly  anxious  to  make  a  display  of  our  patriotism. 
This  began  with  the  firing  of  fire-crackers,  and  a  salute  from 
our  Fort  Marion,  whose  single  gun  I  had  learned  to  load  and 
fire,  much  to  the  envy  of  the  boys  in  our  neighborhood.  The 
troops  who  were  to  garrison  our  fort  consisted  of  three  boys : 
Henry,  aged  eleven,  Ellison,  nine,  and  Oddy,  not  quite  seven. 
Our  uniforms  consisted  of  blue  flannel  jackets,  white  trousers, 
and  cocked  hats  made  from  some  one  of  the  city  papers,  into 
which  had  been  inserted  for  plumes  the  tail  feathers  of  an  old 
red  rooster,  that  he  had  reluctantly  parted  with  the  day  before. 
When  our  army  had  assembled  the  question  arose:  Who 
would  be  the  commanding  officer?  I  claimed  the  honor  by 
right  of  seniority  in  age ;  Ellison  claimed  it  by  right  of  the 
sword  he  wore.  So  matters  stood,  when  Ellison's  adroit 
diplomacy  settled  the  question.  "Now,  Henry,"  said  he,  "you 
have  a  fine  drum,  and  you  can  beat  it  better  than  any  boy. 
There  can  be  no  army  without  a  drummer,  and  you  zvill  be  in 
front,"  and  so  on  with  persuasive  pleading  until  I  yielded,  hav- 
ing been  led  to  believe  that  a  drummer  was  about  the  most 
important  officer  in  an  anny.  Having  formed  his  mighty  host, 
we  were  about  to  begin  our  march  back  to  Fort  Marion  when, 
hearing  laughter  from  the  upper  piazza  of  the  house,  whom 
should  we  see  there  at  this  early  hour  but  our  father  and 
sisters,  who  had  been  silently  witnessing  all  that  had  transpired. 
In  a  merry  tone  our  father  asked :    "Whose  army  do  you 


ELLISON  CAPERS  33 

belong  to?  Are  you  Marion's  men,  or  do  you  follow  Tarleton, 
or  are  you  Tories?"  We  had  often  heard  from  him  all  about 
the  Tories,  and  had  often  had  our  young  minds  excited  by  the 
details  of  their  plundering  expeditions,  and  so  of  the  blood- 
thirsty Tarleton,  while  many  had  been  the  thrilling  narrations 
of  Marion's  heroism  and  the  exploits  of  his  men.  Waving 
his  sword,  our  commander  promptly  answered :  "We  are 
Marion's  men,  sir,  and  are  going  to  his  fort;  old  Tarleton 
can't  stop  us  either,"  and  with  a  hearty  cheer  from  our  admir- 
ing friends,  away  we  marched  to  the  thump!  thump!  of  my 
drum,  our  little  brother  Oddy,  with  a  toy  gun  on  his  shoulder, 
stretching  his  short  legs  to  keep  up  with  the  longer  steps  of 
his  older  brothers. 

The  siege  of  Fort  Marion  over,  we  marched  to  our  tent 
and  found  that  our  good  mothers  had  placed  a  table  upon  the 
platform,  on  which  were  a  bountiful  supply  of  substantial 
food  and  all  kinds  of  nice  things  tempting  to  the  appetites  of 
hungry,  roving  boys.     .     .     . 

Having  done  full  justice  to  our  dinner,  and  drunk 
lemonade  and  eaten  cake  and  ice  cream  to  our  hearts'  content, 
servants  came,  and  in  a  few  moments  our  tent  assumed  the 
appearance  of  a  rostrum,  from  which  Ellison  was  to  deliver 
the  day's  oration.  From  the  house  of  our  generous  host  came 
the  audience  which  was  to  honor  our  orator  and  his  patriot 
comrades  with  their  presence,  among  them  being  our  fathers 
and  mothers.  When  all  had  assembled  our  Captain  Gregg 
came  to  the  front  of  the  platform  and  stated  that  the  exercises 
would  be  opened  with  prayer  by  Bishop  Capers. 

I  have  often  tried  to  recall  the  scene  at  this  moment  as  it 
presented  itself  to  my  wandering  and  unappreciative  mind. 
Many  years  have  since  given  to  me  the  experience  of  a  father, 
and  developed  the  keen  sensitiveness  of  those  most  mysterious 
bonds  of  sympathy  that  unite  a  family  circle  about  the  shrine 
of  father's  and  mother's  devoted  loves.  The  inspiration  of 
this  occasion,  the  genial  waraith  of  a  patriot's  spirit,  the  pathos 
of  a  father's  prayer  for  God's  blessing  on  the  youth  into  whose 


34  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

keeping  were  ultimately  to  come  the  destinies  of  the  country, 
were  then  not  realized  by  one  of  my  tender  years. 

As  this  scene  in  the  panorama  of  childhood's  life  now  comes 
before  me,  I  can  no  longer  wonder  at  the  evident  emotion 
of  my  good  father,  as  he  made  intercession  to  the  throne  of 
Heaven's  grace. 

Next  in  order  came  the  announcement  of  the  orator  of  the 
day,  who  was  introduced  as  "Captain  Capers  of  Fort  Marion." 
Ellison  came  forward  with  perfect  self-possession  and  deliv- 
ered the  following  address*  with  an  easy  grace  of  movement 
and  with  a  distinct  and  fervid  utterance  that  in  subsequent 
years  was  to  distinguish  him  as  "orator  nascitur"  : 

"My  companions  of  the  little  boys'  company  of  archers: 

"This  is  a  great  day.  It  was  enacted  by  great  men.  It  is 
celebrated  by  great  men.  Before  the  year  1776  the  Fourth  of 
July  was  no  more  than  any  other  day  of  any  other  month,  but 
on  that  day  our  grandfathers  made  the  Declaration  of  their 
Independence  of  Great  Britain.  They  had  tried  all  they  could 
to  keep  their  liberties  under  her  government,  but  found  they 
could  not.  They  had  no  choice  left  them  but  the  sword.  They 
appealed  to  Heaven  for  the  justice  of  their  cause,  declared 
the  country  free  and  independent,  and  pledged  their  lives,  their 
fortunes,  and  their  sacred  honor  to  maintain  it.  It  w^as  nobly 
done  and  they  stood  up  bravely  to  it.  The  British  came  and 
our  fathers  met  them.  They  met  them  at  Bunker's  Hill,  at 
Fort  Moultrie,  at  Eutaw.  They  met  them  like  men — as  they 
were — who  could  not  be  slaves.  The  struggle  was  long  and 
terrible,  but  America  triumphed  and  the  whole  world  cried  out 
'Well  done.' 

"My  friends  and  companions,  we  have  met  here  to  celebrate 
our  country's  independence.  Yes,  it  is  our  country — it  is  our 
independence; — and  we  feel  it.  What  if  we  are  not  grown 
up  men  ?  We  are  the  stuff  that  men  are  made  of,  and  we  mean 
to  make  men.     That  we  do !    True,  we  are  only  boys  yet.  and 

*Spoken  July  4,  1847,  and  written  by  his  father. 


ELLISON  CAPERS  35 

little  boys  at  that,  but  we  are  American  boys,  and  will  soon 
become  American  men.  Don't  we  look  like  our  fathers  ?  And 
we  feel  like  them.  It  won't  be  long  before  we  shall  take  their 
places  as  men  among  men,  and  we  mean  when  that  time  comes 
to  maintain  our  country's  virtue  and  our  country's  rights." 

My  brother  possessed  a  nature  highly  sensitive  to  all  that 
is  high-minded,  honorable,  just,  and  righteous.  He  abhorred 
that  which  was  mean,  low,  degraded,  or  debasing.  He  was 
ever  ready  to  applaud  a  noble  deed,  and  to  contemn  that  which 
is  ignoble.  He  could  not  bear  to  see  another  imposed  upon, 
nor  would  he  permit  an  unjust  reflection  upon  the  character 
of  the  humblest  of  those  he  knew  to  be  innocent.  I  recall  an 
incident  in  his  early  schoolboy  days  that  will  somewhat  illus- 
trate this  characteristic  of  the  child,  and  which  remained  with 
him  in  the  mature  years  of  his  manhood.  Sometime  after 
the  Fourth  of  July  celebration,  hitherto  detailed.  Ellison  was 
entered  at  the  school  of  a  gentleman  in  Charleston,  the  first  of 
his  experiences  with  a  male  instructor.  This  ''school  teacher" 
(as  the  pedagogue  was  called  in  those  days)  was  a  prim  old 
bachelor,  whose  rather  petulant  disposition  was  not  such  as 
would  bear  patiently  with  the  mischievous  boys  committed  to 
his  care.  He  was  quite  a  tidy  person  in  his  dress,  and  on  the 
warm  summer  day,  when  this  incident  occurred,  was  clothed 
in  a  suit  of  white  linen. 

The  boys  in  those  days  made  a  kind  of  plaything  they 
called  "flippers."  It  was  a  simple  contrivance  of  whalebone 
fixed  in  the  end  of  a  short  stick,  throwing  a  shot  or  paper 
wad  with  considerable  force.  Several  times  during  the  school 
session  shot  had  flown  across  the  schoolroom,  much  to  the 
annoyance  of  the  "teacher."  Ellison  and  another  boy  occupy- 
ing adjoining  seats  were  known  to  have  these  flippers,  and  had 
been  reproved  for  shooting  paper  wads  at  other  boys  during 
school  hours.  One  long,  dull,  and  sleepy  day,  such  as  we  have 
in  the  early  summer,  another  boy,  whose  seat  was  the  one  just 
behind  that  occupied  by  Ellison,  made  a  large  paper  wad  which 


36  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

he  had  soaked  in  ink.  Watching  for  an  opportunity  when  the 
"teacher's"  back  was  turned  toward  him,  the  boy  shot  his  ink 
wad.  striking  the  teacher  plumb  between  the  shoulders,  where 
was  left  a  large  splash.  Immediately  the  schoolmaster  was 
in  a  passion.  Seeing  that  Ellison  and  his  schoolmate  were 
in  quite  a  laughing  mood,  and  that  the  lx)y  who  had  shot  the 
paper  wad  was  apparently  engaged  with  his  book,  he  called  the 
former  up  and,  notwithstanding  their  positive  denials  and 
emphatic  protests,  proceeded  to  punish  them.  The  mode  of 
inflicting  punishment  at  that  time  was  by  striking  on  the  open 
palm  with  a  rattan  cane  from  three  to  five  blows.  "Hold  out 
your  hand,  sir,"  was  the  command,  and  if  the  boy  refused 
down  came  the  rattan  on  his  shoulders  and  on  his  back.  The 
other  boy  was  the  first  of  the  two  to  receive  a  severe  punish- 
ment. He  had  refused  to  hold  out  his  hand,  and  had  been 
cruelly  whipped.  When  it  came  to  Ellison's  turn,  with  his  face 
flushed  and  an  expression  of  the  utmost  indignation,  he  held 
out  his  hand.  Down  in  cruel  stroke  came  the  cane, 
which  he  instantly  grasped,  jerking  it  from  the  hand  of  the 
irate  master,  whom  he  then  struck  with  all  the  force  his  young 
arm  could  express,  and  then  left  the  building.  My  seat  was 
among  the  larger  boys,  some  distance  from  the  one  assigned 
Ellison.  Near  me  was  the  oldest  and  the  largest  boy  attending 
this  school.  His  name  was  McBeth.  He  was  quite  a  manly 
youth,  and  among  the  boys  an  "arbiter  maximus"  in  all  dis- 
putes such  as  children  often  have  with  one  another.  Rising 
from  his  seat,  McBeth  spoke  to  the  surprised  and  amazed 
instructor  about  in  these  words  :  "Mr.  Blank,  you  have  whipped 
the  wrong  boy;  it  was  that  cowardly  sneak," — pointing  to  the 
boy  who  had  shot  the  ink  ball — "who  shot  the  wad  and  sat 
quietly  in  his  seat  while  you  were  whipping  innocent  boys." 
"Can  that  be  true?"  the  teacher  inquired  of  the  guilty  boy, 
whose  confusion  and  mean  expression  betrayed  him  into  con- 
fession. Mr.  Blank  at  once  ordered  the  culprit  to  take  his  cap 
and  books  and  go  to  his  home.  He  never  returned  to  Mr. 
Blank's  school,  at  least  while  I  continued  there. 


ELLISON  CAPERS  37 

Li  his  seventeenth  year  Ellison  was  entered  as  a  cadet  at 
the  South  Carolina  Military  Academy.  It  was  during  this 
cadetship  that  my  brother  first  met  the  one  who,  of  all  others. 
was  to  have  the  most  potent  influence  over  his  future  life.  No 
man  can  become  superior  to,  nor  can  he  possess  the  power  to 
control,  the  moral  force  acting  constantly  and  directly  on  his 
nature  during  the  intimate  relation  he  must  sustain  to  a  wife. 

My  memory  cherishes  the  peculiar  features  of  our  ante- 
bellum civilization  in  the  Southern  States,  especially  in  the 
"tide  water"  or  seacoast  region  of  South  Carolina.  Before 
me  now  comes  the  picture  of  wide-spreading  limbs  of  a  grand 
live  oak,  from  which  in  trailing  festoons  hangs  the  drapery 
of  moss,  making  this  giant  tree  to  appear  as  if  one  of  the 
gray-bearded  indices  of  centuries.  In  the  shade  of  one  of  these 
monarchs  of  the  forest  I  recall  a  picnic  party,  near  Mount 
Pleasant,  where  charming  young  ladies,  daughters  of  the 
planters  of  the  vicinity,  were  met  by  gallant  young  men  for  a 
day  of  joyous  pastime.  The  happy  hearts  of  lovable  youth 
made  entrancing  music  for  the  soul  in  those  days  that  knew  no 
shade  of  sorrow.  Among  these  were  Miss  Charlotte  Palmer, 
of  Cherry  Grove  Plantation,  and  Cadet  Ellison  Capers. 
Whether  in  the  dance,  or  in  a  ramble  through  the  inviting 
shades  of  sylvan  bowers,  or  at  the  sumptuous  feast  that  loving 
mothers  had  provided,  it  was  quite  evident  that  Ellison  and 
"Lottie"  were  paired.  I  cannot  say  that  this  was  their  first 
meeting. — they  may  have  met  before. — but  let  that  be  as  it 
may  have  been,  the  course  of  true  love  was  running  smooth  on 
this  glad  day,  and  so  continued.  Endowed  with  the  high  spirit 
of  her  illustrious  ancestor.  General  Francis  Marion ;  having  a 
face  in  which  beauty  and  gentleness  were  happily  blended 
with  an  expression  of  mental  strength ;  graceful  in  her  move- 
ment, amiable  in  her  disposition,  she  reflected  then  and  always 
the  graces  of  social  refinement  and  Christian  culture.  Such 
was  the  Heaven-appointed  arbiter  of  a  devoted  husband's 
future  life. 

Oh,    the    merry,    romping    days    of    childhood !      "When 


SS  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

the  love  of  the  soul  was  in  leaves  and  flowers !"  and  the  still 
happier  days  of  bouyant  youth  and  young  manhood,  freed  from 
the  cares,  the  anxieties,  the  perplexing  doubts,  and  fears  of 
maturer  years. 

There  were  among  the  valued  portraits  adorning  the  home 
of  my  brother,  when  I  last  visited  it,  two  that  were  very  attrac- 
tive to  me — one  of  his  lovely  wife,  the  other  of  himself,  made 
by  a  master  of  his  art  about  the  time  of  his  marriage.  If  it  is 
possible  for  some  competent  artist  to  transfer  these  to  some 
page  of  his  memoir,  an  appreciative  person  will  find  in  their 
faces  all  and  more  than  I  have  attempted  to  delineate  in  this 
imperfect  sketch. 

On  February  24,  1859,  Ellison  Capers  married  Charlotte 
Rebecca  Palmer,  the  youngest  daughter  of  John  Gendron  and 
Catharine  Couturier  Palmer.  The  ceremony  was  solemnized 
at  "Cherry  Grove,"  the  plantation  home  of  the  bride's  parents, 
the  Rev.  Robert  Johnston  being  the  officiating  minister. 

Charlotte  Rebecca  Palmer's  ancestry  is  a  notable  one.  On 
her  maternal  side  were  Thomas  Broughton,  Governor  of 
South  Carolina  under  the  Crown,  and  Nathaniel  Johnson. 
Governor  of  South  Carolina  under  the  proprietory  govern- 
ment; as  well  as  the  Dwights  of  Denham,  Mass.  Through 
the  marriage  of  Samuel  Dwight  to  the  daughter  of  General 
Francis  Marion's  oldest  brother,  Isaac  Marion,  Charlotte 
Palmer  was  the  granddaughter  of  Marion's  adopted  son  and 
nephew,  Francis  Dwight,  whose  name  was  changed  by  request 
of  General  Marion  from  Dwight  to  Marion.  Francis  Marion 
had  eight  children,  all  daughters — not  a  son  to  perpetuate  the 
name  of  the  great  Revolutionary  hero. 

In  the  French  emigration  of  1689  one  hundred  and  eighty 
families  came  to  America  and  bought  lands  on  the  lower  Santee 
from  the  warlike  Santee  Indians.  There  they  settled  James 
Town,  subsequently  moving  up  the  Santee  into  St.  John's 
Parish.  One  of  these  early  French  Huguenot  settlers,  Phillip 
Gendron,  is  spoken  of  by  the  historian  of  the  old  places  and 


ELLISON  CAPERS  39 

people  of  St.  Stephen's  Parish  as  "one  of  the  pillars  of  the 
church"  (French  Protestant)  at  James  Town.  His  daughter, 
Marianne  Gendron,  married  John  Palmer,  of  "Gravel  Hill" 
Plantation,  a  "gentleman  whose  successful  enterprise  in  the 
collection  of  naval  stores  has  caused  him  to  be  remembered  in 
our  days  by  the  distinguishing  appellation  of  "Turpentine 
John  Palmer."  His  son  Richard  was  one  of  Marion's  captains. 
His  commission  is  dated  August,  1781,  and  signed  by  "John 
Rutledge,  Governor,"  and  "Francis  Marion,  Brigadier-General 
Militia."  So  Charlotte  Rebecca  Palmer's  grandfather,  John 
Palmer,  and  Ellison  Capers'  grandfather,  William  Capers,  were 
both  captains  in  the  service  of  the  distinguished  Revolutionary 
leader,  Francis  Marion. 

Thus  it  is  seen  that  in  the  converging  lines  of  Mrs.  Capers' 
ancestry  there  were  commingled  the  characteristic  virtues  of 
Cavalier  English,  New  England  Puritan,  and  French  Hugue- 
not. In  the  war  between  the  States  her  brother,  Francis  Gen- 
dron, made  an  enviable  record  for  himself  as  lieutenant- 
colonel  of  the  Holcomb  Legion.  The  subjoined  communica- 
tion from  Brigadier-General  Gist  indicates  the  esteem  in  which 
this  gallant  soldier  was  held  by  his  comrades  in  the  Confederate 
service. 

Headquarters,   James    Island,    St.    Andrews, 

McClouds,    March   24,    1863. 
Mr.    Richard   Yeadon, 

Dear  Sir:  Not  knowing  the  address  of  the  relatives  of  the  late  Lt. 
Col.  F.  Gendron  Palmer,  I  have  to  request  that  you  transmit  to  them 
the  inclosed  order. 

Battery  No.  3  situated  near  Johns  Island  Ferry  is  an  important  and 
admirably  built  Barbette  Battery,  and  as  you  will  perceive  by  the  order 
is  called  in  honor  of  the  gallant  and  lamented  Lt.  Col.  Palmer  of  the 
Holcomb    Legion. 

I  feel  assured  from  your  connection  with  Col.  Palmer  that  you  will 
be  pleased  to  be  the  medium  of  transmitting  to  his  relatives  this  com- 
pliment  to   his    memory. 

I   am,  Very  respectfully, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

S.  R.  Gist, 
Brig.   Genl.   Com'd'g. 


CHAPTER  IV 

MILITARY  LIFE* 

In  the  following  fragmentary  memoranda  of  Bishop  Capers' 
"Military  Life,"  we  have  an  original  account  of  General 
Pettigrew's  interview  with  Major  Anderson,  demanding  his 
return  from  Fort  Sumter  to  Fort  Moultrie,  as  given  by  one 
of  the  principals,  and  here  published  for  the  first  time. 

"Having  received  an  appointment  from  the  Board  of  Visitors 
of  the  South  Carolina  Military  Academies  as  a  pay  cadet,  I 
entered  the  Arsenal  Academy  in  Columbia.  January  i,  1854. 
My  application  was  made  from  Anderson  County,  where  my 
father  was  then  living.  My  class  numbered  eighty-odd,  but 
before  the  year  was  out  'Distinction's  fan,  puffing  at  all, 
winnowed  the  light  away,'  and  we  went  down  to  Charleston 
numbering  thirty-nine.  The  "winnowing"  process  went  on 
until  we  received  our  diplomas,  on  the  i8th  of  November,  1857, 
when  we  numbered  twenty. 

"After  being  graduated,  and  at  the  meeting  of  the  Board  of 
Visitors  in  December,  my  classmate,  Teunent, — who  took  first 
honor  in  our  class, — and  I  were  appointed  'Resident  Grad- 
uates,' with  the  rank  of  second  lieutenant,  and  were  ordered 

*The  Capers  family  of  the  South,  and  we  believe  it  exclusively  a 
Southern  family,  made  a  remarkable  fighting  record  during  the  late 
war.  From  the  album  of  a  friend  we  send  you  the  following  as  embrac- 
ing the  members  of  this  family  who  were  soldiers  in  the  Confederate 
Army  under  the  red-crossed  banner  of  Dixie :  2  brigadier  generals, 
I  colonel  of  artillery,  i  lieutenant-colonel  of  artillery,  2  colonels  of 
cavalry,  i  major  of  artillery,  i  lieutenant-colonel  of  cavalry,  3  captains 
of  infantry,  3  sergeants,  2  chaplains,  3  surgeons,  14  privates;  a  total  of 
2,7.  These  were  without  exceptions  brothers,  uncles,  or  cousins.  Nine 
were  killed  in  battle,  3  died  of  wounds,  2  died  of  desease,  13  were 
wounded  more  than  once,  7  were  wounded  once,  and  only  3  came  through 
safe.  Eleven  of  the  officers  were  promoted  for  gallantry  on  the  field  of 
battle. — New  Eclectric  Magazine,  May,   1869. 

40 


LIEUTENANT  ELLISON   CAPERS,   C.    S.   A. 
(From  a  portrait,   1859.) 


Opt^ositc  (•age  40. 


MRS.    ELLISON   CAPERS 
(From    a   portrait,    1859.) 


Opposite  page  40. 


42  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

God  bless  him  all  the  way.  I  wish  you  would  tell  him  that  we 
expect  him  to  stay  with  us  when  he  comes  to  town. 

I  saw  just  now  the  most  interesting  sight  I  have  yet  seen  in 
our  little  home.  The  weather  being  cool,  I  lighted  our  fire 
to-night,  and  little  Katie,  my  daughter,  was  very  much 
delighted  with  the  blaze.  Bess  sat  her  up  in  her  little  chair, 
held  her  in,  and  she  was  charmed.  It  was  the  first  fireside 
picture  for  me,  and  oh !  the  memories  that  come  thronging  to 
my  heart!  Think  of  your  boy,  who  was  so  fond  of  fun  and 
joy,  looking  into  the  flame  of  his  own  fireside  with  his  wife 
and  daughter ! 

Lottie,  Stevens,  and  I  dined  with  "Tady"  to-day.  She  was 
as  usual ;  perhaps  a  little  feebler. 

I  know  of  no  news  that  would  interest  you.  You  are  not 
fond  of  political  news,  but  I  fear,  my  dear  mother,  you  and  I 
will  see  the  bitter  fruits  of  a  civil  war  before  very  long.  I 
regard  the  election  of  Lincoln  full  cause  for  a  dissolution  of 
our  Union,  but  if  the  concurrence  of  the  Cotton  States  (1 
despair  of  the  Southern  States)  cannot  be  secured,  I  am  most 
decidedly  opposed  to  the  separate  action  of  South  Carolina. 
I,  however,  will  make  her  fate  my  fate.  And  may  God  deliver 
us  from  the  terrible  issue.  I  sincerely  trust  that  our  sister 
Cotton  States  may  be  awakened  to  a  sense  of  their  wrongs,  the 
imperative  demands  upon  their  honor,  and  to  a  proper  apprecia- 
tion of  their  danger.  Viewing  the  political  state  of  our  section 
as  I  do.  I  must  think  that  the  men  opposed  to  disunion  in  the 
event  of  Lincoln's  election, — which  I  regard  as  certain, — are 
slumbering  over  a  smoking  volcano,  which  may  suddenly  blow 
the  sleepers  into  inevitable  ruin. 

I  wish  you  would  show  brother  George  this,  and  tell  him 
I  ask  him  to  write  me  and  give  me  his  opinion  in  reference  to 
the  likelihood  of  Georgia's  taking  active  measures.  He  will 
greatly  oblige  me  by  so  doing.  Much  love  to  brother  George, 
Sister  "Tady,"  and  the  children.  Lottie  joins  me  sincerely 
in  this.     Good  night,  my  own  mother,  and  may  God  bless  you. 

Your  Ellison. 


ELLISON  CAPERS  43 

Citadel,  December  9th,  i860. 
My  Own  Dear  Oddy  : 

I  send  you  a  portion  of  our  departed  mother's  hair.  Put  it 
carefully  away  until  you  can  afford  to  have  it  put  into  a  locket. 

We  are  as  usual  here.  A  feeling  of  loneliness  pervades  my 
heart.  I  am  constantly  impressed  with  the  idea  that  our  family 
circle  is  broken  up,  to  be  no  more  united.  We  have  no  longer 
a  center  on  earth.  But  if  we  could  only  realize  it,  we  still 
have  the  same  constant  center  in  heaven.  May  we  unite  there ! 
You  must  write  to  me  often. 

I  am  very  apprehensive  of  sad  times  in  the  future.  I  fear 
our  political  troubles  will  end  in  blood.  Hugh  Legare  said  in 
a  speech,  delivered  in  Congress  in  1838,  in  reference  to  the 
Abolition  crusade,  that  if  it  was  permitted  to  be  carried  on 
"the  sun  of  the  Union  would  go  down — it  will  go  down  in 
blood."  We  shall  live.  I  solemnly  fear,  to  see  the  verification 
of  this  prophecy.  I  desire  the  dissolution  of  the  Union,  but 
I  pray  that  it  may  be  peaceable.  We  have  no  fight  for  glory  in 
this  war.  It  will  be,  if  it  comes,  a  terrible  carnage,  in  which 
brothers  will  imbrue  their  hands  in  each  other's  blood;  and 
when  it  will  end  God  only  knows.  I  fear  very  much  that  the 
cowardly  policy  of  Mr.  Buchanan  will  involve  us  here  at  our 
forts  before  the  first  day  of '61.  God  forbid  it!  Butif  the  worst 
comes  to  the  worst,  I  trust,  my  dear  brother,  that  a  noble 
patriotism  may  bear  us  through  the  sad  struggle,  and  that  we 
may  be  constantly  sustained  by  a  cheering  consciousness  that 
we  are  doing  our  duty. 

Yours  devotedly,  Ellison. 

Again  taking  up  the  journal  of  his  military  life  we  read: 
"In  December  of  this  year  [i860]  a  regiment  of  rifles  having 
been  formed  in  Charleston,  composed  of  the  five  companies  of 
the  city,  I  had  the  honor  to  be  unanimously  elected  major  of 
the  same,  and  accepted.  The  regiment  was  officered  as 
follows:    Colonel,  J.  Johnston  Pettigrew;  Lieutenant-Colonel, 


44  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

John  L.  Branch;  Major,  Ellison  Capers;  Adjutant,  Theo. 
Barker;  Quartermaster,  Allen  J.  Hauckel,  Louis  Young;  Sur- 
geon. Geo.  E.  Wescot;  Assistant  Surgeon,  Thos.  L.  Ogier,  Jr. ; 
Judge  Advocate,  Chas.  E.  B.  Flagg. 

"We  made  our  first  parade  on  the  20th  of  December,  I  acting 
adjutant.     The  order  for  the  parade  was  as  follows: 

Headquarters    ist   Reg.    Rifles, 
Charleston,    Dec.    i8th,    '60. 

General  Orders: 
No.  I. 

There  will  be  a  parade  of  the  First  Regiment  of  Rifles,  for  drill  and 
instruction,   on   Thursday,   the   20th   inst. 

The  line  will  be  formed  on  the  Battalion  Parade  precisely  at  9  1/2 
o'clock  a.  m. 

Officers  in  command  of  the  respective  companies  composing  this  Regi- 
ment are  hereby  ordered  to  report  with  their  commands  to  the  Adjutant 
on  the  Battalion  Parade  at  20  minutes  past  nine  o'clock.  The  Non. 
Com.  Staff  will  conform  to  the  same. 

The  commissioned  staff  officers  will  report  to  the  Colonel  at  his  resi- 
dence, Tradd  Street,  at  20  minutes  past  9  a.  m. 

The  commanding  officers  of  the  First,  Sixth,  and  the  right  center 
companies  will  detail  a  sergeant,  each,  from  their  companies,  who  will 
act  as  General  Guide,  and  are  hereby  ordered  to  report  themselves  to 
the  Adjutant  with  the  officers  commanding  their  respective  companies. 

By  order  Col.  J.  Johnston   Pettigrew, 
E.   Capers,  Commanding   First   Regiment   Rifles,    S.    C.    M. 

Acting  Adjutant. 

"In  accordance  with  his  order  the  regiment  paraded  on  the 
20th,  marching  up  to  Magnolia  for  drill.  While  on  drill  we 
received  the  Ordinance  of  Secession  which  had  been  passed  by 
the  Convention  then  in  session  in  the  city.  The  Ordinance 
was  read  to  the  command  by  me,  and  received  with  the  greatest 
enthusiasm. 

"Major  Robert  Anderson,  commanding  the  United  States 
troops  at  Fort  Moultrie,  having  attempted  the  destruction  of 
Fort  Moultrie  on  the  night  of  the  25th,  and  removed  his  com- 
mand to  Fort  Sumter  to  prevent,  as  he  said,  a  collision  with  the 


ELLISON  CAPERS  45 

troops  of  South  Carolina,  Governor  Pickens  sent  his  mihtary 
aid,  Colonel  Pettigrew,  over  to  Major  Anderson  on  the  morn- 
ing of  the  26th  to  demand  that  Major  Anderson  return  to 
Fort  Moultrie  and  restore  the  status  of  the  forts  in  the  harbor. 
By  his  request  I  accompanied  Colonel  Pettigrew.  We  went 
over  in  uniform,  in  a  small  boat,  rowed  by  negroes. 

**T  will  give  an  account  of  this  ofificial  visit  to  Fort  Sumter, 
as  I  believe  it  is  the  first  military  interview  of  the  Government 
of  South  Carolina  with  'foreign  powers.' 

"We  were  met  at  the  wharf  of  the  fort  by  the  orderly  ser- 
geant. Captain  Seymour.  Colonel  Pettigrew  sent  in  his  card, 
and  we  were  asked  up. 

"We  saw  Major  Anderson  in  the  presence  of  his  offi- 
cers in  a  room  on  the  south  front  of  the  fort;  everything 
in  and  about  the  fort  being  in  confusion.  Aly  attention  was 
struck  by  seeing  a  two-inch  gun  sunk  in  the  parade,  to  be  fired 
as  a  mortar,  and  bearing  on  the  city.  In  the  interview  Major 
Anderson  was  polite  and  kind  in  his  manner,  and  his  officers 
who  stood  around  him  were  intently  interested.  Colonel  Petti- 
grew protested  in  the  name  of  Governor  Pickens  against  the 
destruction  of  Fort  Moultrie  and  the  removal  of  the  troops  to 
Sumter,  saying  that  it  was  a  violation  of  an  understanding 
between  South  Carolina  and  the  United  States  Government, 
and  that  Anderson  must  go  back  to  Fort  Moultrie.  Major 
Anderson  explained  in  a  most  polite  and  conciliatory  way  that 
his  move  was  a  precaution  on  his  part  to  prevent  a  collision 
with  our  volunteers,  who  he  feared  would  attack  him  in  Fort 
Moultrie.  He  instanced  our  guard  boats  at  night  as  seeming 
to  him  a  constant  threat  of  attack,  and  as  he  was  left  without 
orders  from  the  Government  at  Washington,  and  was  at  liberty 
to  take  up  any  of  the  posts  he  commanded  in  his  district,  he 
took  up  Sumter  of  his  own  authority,  and  to  keep  the  peace. 
'In  this  contest  between  the  North  and  the  South  my  sympa- 
thies,' he  said,  'are  with  the  South,  but  I  am  an  officer  of  the 
Government  of  the  United  States,  and  as  such  I  must  do  my 


46  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

duty.     My  compliments  to  the  Governor,  and  say  to  him  I 
cannot  and  will  not  go  back  to  Fort  Moultrie.' 

"After  some  further  conversation  we  bowed  our  respects  and 
left  the  fort,  reporting  our  interview  to  the  Governor  and 
Council  at  the  City  Hall." 

The  following  afternoon  the  Union  flag  was  raised  over 
Fort  Sumter,  and  then  Governor  Pickens  ordered  the  P'irst 
Regiment  of  Rifles  to  take  possession  of  Fort  Moultrie  and 
Castle  Pinckney.  He  instructed  them  to  make  a  careful  inven- 
tory of  all  property  and  forward  to  him.  Major  Capers  com- 
manded a  detachment  against  Castle  Pinckney,  and  in  after 
years  he  was  fond  of  relating  this,  his  first  experience  in  actual 
war.  He  described  the  enthusiasm  with  which  the  company 
received  the  order  to  "take  Castle  Pinckney,"  for,  said  he, 
"the  men  believed  that  theirs  would  be  the  first  guns  to  be 
fired  in  the  cause  of  Southern  independence  and  Southern 
liberty."  With  a  keen  appreciation  of  humor.  General  Capers 
told  of  how,  as  a  young  and  inexperienced  officer,  he  deployed 
his  men,  and  with  what  caution  they  approached  the  fort. 
On  they  went !  But  the  guns  remained  silent.  Then  the  com- 
mand "Charge !"  was  given,  and  the  soldier  boys  dashed  for- 
ward and  knocked  in  the  doors  of  the  fort.  To  their  dismay 
and  chagrin  they  stood  breathless  in  the  midst  of  a  deserted 
post.  The  Federal  soldiers  had  been  withdrawn  during  the 
night  and  only  a  few  officers  were  left  in  charge,  who  made 
a  verbal  protest.  At  their  request  they  were  transferred  to 
Fort  vSumter. 

In  making  his  memorandum  (1888)  Rev.  Mr.  Capers  did 
not  mention  that  his  health  was  very  delicate  at  the  time 
South  Carolina  took  the  momentous  step  which  led  her 
Southern  sisters  out  of  the  Federal  Union,  and  that  he 
immediately  offered  his  service  to  Governor  Pickens. 
However,  his  family  physician  and  the  regimental  sur- 
geon both  advised  against  his  entering  the  active  service 
of   the   army,   giving   it   as   their   professional   opinion   that 


ELLISON  CAPERS  47 

the  exposure  in  camp  would  inevitably  prove  fatal  to  him. 
The  surgeons  were  his  personal  friends,  and  one  argument 
by  which  they  sought  to  dissuade  him  from  enlisting  was  to 
urge  upon  him  the  fact  that  as  a  teacher  in  a  military  school 
he  was  not  only  exempt  from  military  service,  but  he  was 
actually  serving  his  State  in  training  soldiers  for  the  field. 
Lieutenant  Capers  saw  his  duty  otherwise,  and  determined  to 
enter  the  army.  He  felt,  however,  that  he  should  report  to  Mrs. 
Capers  the  result  of  the  surgeon's  examination.  Returning 
home,  he  found  his  wife  eagerly  awaiting  him,  anxious  to  hear 
what  the  doctors  had  to  say.  Like  many  of  the  South's  heroic 
women,  she  had  the  Spartan  spirit  which  urged  their  heroes 
to  battle  and  admonished  them  to  return  victorious  or  upon 
their  shields.  When  Lieutenant  Capers  told  his  wife  of  the 
doctors'  statements  to  him,  she  promptly  replied:  "Ellison, 
you  must  go  and  do  your  duty,  and  we  will  leave  the  matter 
of  your  health  in  God's  keeping,  trusting  Him  for  that."  Thus 
she  heartily  concurred  in  his  own  patriotic  sentiments,  and 
stifled,  as  promptly  as  he  had  done,  the  voice  of  the  tempter 
holding  out  the  attractions  of  an  honorable,  but  "bomb-proof 
position"  as  professor  in  the  State's  military  school. 

Another  opportunity  for  escaping  the  hardships  of  camp 
life — which  the  doctors  told  him  would  destroy  his  health — 
and  at  the  same  time  act  in  an  honorable  position  and  in  the 
service  of  his  country  was  tendered  to  Major  Capers,  at  the 
beginning  of  the  war.  The  subjoined  correspondence  shows 
him  to  have  been  offered  the  superintendent-ship  of  the  famous 
military  school  in  North  Carolina  located  at  Hillsboro.  This 
was  a  great  compliment  to  a  military  officer  not  yet  twenty- 
four  years  of  age. 

Wilmington,  N.  C. 

May  29,  1 86 1. 
Dear  Ellison  : 

Can  you  and  will  you  come  up  to  Hillsboro  and  conduct 
affairs  for  me  as  superintendent?  Our  second  class,  two  in 
number,  has  gone  to  the  war,  leaving  only  3d,  4th,  and  5th, 


48  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

in  all  about  seventy,  but  increasing  notwithstanding  the  war. 
Gaillard  will  be  there  and  some  instructors  for  Latin  who  can 
be  readily  procured.  Now  you  have  perhaps  no  great  experi- 
ence as  superintendent,  but  you  have  good  judgment  and  would 
command  the  respect  of  the  cadets,  and  I  doubt  not  give  ample 
satisfaction;  at  any  rate,  if  you  can,  I  would  like  you  to  try  it. 
Richardson  suffers  so  much  from  his  eyes  that  he  must 
give  up. 

Lightfoot  is  appointed  major  in  the  North  Carolina  army. 
Schaller  is  unserviceable ;  your  humble  servant  is  senior  colonel 
of  the  North  Carolina  regulars,  and  the  H.  M.  Academy  is  thus 
in  a  fair  way  to  "yield  to  the  force  of  circumstances."  I  left 
ii6  cadets  there  on  April  17:6  have  entered  since,  and  there 
are  now,  I  think,  68.  Having  been  myself  appointed  in  the 
most  complimentary  manner,  first,  to  the  command  of  this 
fort,  and  then  to  the  Second  Regimental  Infantry,  I  could  not, 
as  a  patriot,  decline ;  indeed  I  would  decline  no  position  in 
which  I  could  now  be  useful  to  the  South.  Meanwhile  I  think 
the  Academy  would  do  good  service  to  North  Carolina,  and 
for  that  reason,  as  well  as  others  which  will  suggest  themselves, 
I  wish  to  keep  it  up. 

I  propose  to  offer  for  the  first  month  $150,  you  paying  travel- 
ing expenses,  and  $125  for  each  subsequent  month  of  the 
academic  year,  ending  November  26.  I  suppose  that  as  there 
are  now  fewer  cadets  than  usual  at  the  Citadel  they  can  spare 
you,  and — Jones  would  consent  to  your  coming.  If  you  can, 
please  do  me  the  service  as  a  personal  favor  of  a  most  important 
nature.  If  it  should  happen  that  you  can't  come,  please  make 
some  suggestion. 

As  soon  as  Richardson  leaves  we  could  give  you  his  quar- 
ters, and  make  you  right  comfortable. 

When  you  make  up  your  mind,  which  please  do  at  once, 
telegraph  to  Colonel  W.  S.  G.  Andrews,  Goldsboro,  North 
Carolina,  if  favorable,  and  say  "Tell  Col.  Tew  I  will  come." 
I  shall  write  to  Colonel  Andrews  and  he  will  understand, 
and  write  to  me.     You  can  write  as  soon  as  practical.     Di- 


ELLISON  CAPERS  49 

rect  your  letter  to  Fort  Macon,  Morehead  City,  North  Caro- 
lina. 

With  best  respects  to  Mrs.  Capers  and  to  your  colleagues, 

Very  truly  yours, 

(Signed)     C.  C.  Tew. 

Wilmington,  June  5. 
Dear  Ellison  : 

I  have  heard  nothing  from  you;  do  come;  pay  no  object; 
just  name  your  amount.  We  are  getting  recruits,  and  can,  I 
am  confident,  run  up  to  80  or  90  cadets.  Telegraph  me  here, 
and  write  also.  We  can  give  you  quarters.  I  am  assigned  to 
the  Southern  Department  of  the  Coast  Defence  of  the  State, 
and  will  be  here  some  time. 

Very  truly  yours, 

(Signed)     C.  C.  Tew. 

Wilmington,  N.  C. 

June  1 8th,  1861. 
Dear  Ellison  : 

I  have  just  time  to  reply  to  your  letter,  which  reached  me 
this  morning.  Of  course  I  appreciate  your  position,  and  know 
that  you  could  only  decline  under  the  circumstances,  though 
it  is  a  matter  of  great  regret  to  me,  as  I  am  now  about  to  issue 
the  order  for  suspension  of  the  institution  indefinitely.  It  is 
a  great  sacrifice,  but  there  is  no  help  for  it.       ... 

Very  truly  yours. 

(Signed)     C.  C.  Tew. 


CHAPTER  V 

OPENING  OF  THE  WAR 

Elected  major  of  the  First  Rifles,  Ellison  Capers  entered 
upon  his  career  as  a  soldier  in  the  service  of  the  Southern  Con- 
federacy. The  motives  which  actuated  him  when  he  threw 
in  his  lot  with  South  Carolina  in  that  fateful  struggle  were  the 
same  high  motives  that  guided  him  through  life — conscientious 
devotion  to  duty,  to  God,  and  to  his  country.  What  the  North- 
ern historian,  James  Ford  Rhodes,  has  said  of  Lee  ("Hist," 
vol.  iii,  p.  413),  can  fairly  and  truthfully  be  said  of  Ellison 
Capers  :  "The  course  he  took  was,  from  his  point  of  view,  and 
judged  by  his  inexorable  and  pure  conscience,  the  path  of  duty 
to  which  a  high  sense  of  honor  called  him."  "For  Ellison 
Capers  to  have  sided  against  the  South  would  have  been,  in 
his  case  at  least,  to  do  dishonor  to  all  the  noblest  affections  of 
his  nature,  all  the  traditions  of  his  people,  and  the  principles  of 
free  government  which  from  childhood  he  had  been  taught 
to  cherish."* 

We  have  seen  the  part  he  took  in  the  initial  maneuvers  pre- 
ceding the  bombardment  of  Fort  Sumter. 

During  the  short  siege  of  the  works  Major  Capers  com- 
manded light  batteries  on  Sullivan's  Island.  Throughout  the 
ensuing  summer  he  was  with  his  regiment,  engaged  in  erecting 
defenses  for  the  coast.  When  Colonel  Pettigrew  resigned  to 
go  to  Virginia,  Major  Capers  was  promoted  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  of  the  First  Rifles.  In  December,  1861,  Colonel  H.  C. 
Stevens  (South  Carolina  Militia),  and  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Capers  began  to  form  a  regiment  for  twelve  months'  sers^ice. 
The  Marion  Rifles,  of  Charleston,  Captain  Sigwald  command- 

*Bishop  Gailor. 
50 


ELLISON  CAPERS  51 

ing,  was  the  first  company  to  agree  to  serve  in  the  proposed 
regiment.  By  special  order  No.  6,  dated  January  13,  1862,  a 
camp  of  instruction  and  organization  was  established  by  the 
Adjutant-General  of  the  State  and  located  in  St.  Andrews 
Parish,  on  the  main  line  of  the  Savannah  &  Charleston  Rail- 
road. This  camp  of  instruction  was  just  four  miles  from 
Charleston,  and  was  placed  under  command  of  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Capers.  Early  in  the  succeeding  February  President 
Davis  called  upon  the  Governor  of  South  Carolina  for  five 
regiments  of  infantry  "for  the  war,"  and  by  the  middle  of 
March  all  of  the  companies  composing  the  Twenty-fourth 
South  Carolina  Regiment  had  changed  their  term  of  service 
from  "twelve  months"  to  "the  war."  and  thus  the  Twenty- 
fourth  Regiment  of  South  Carolina  Volunteers,  was  fully 
organized.  On  Cole's  Island.  James  Island,  Combehee,  Ashe- 
poo,  Pocotaligo,  and  near  Wilmington,  North  Carolina,  the 
24th  South  Carolina  Volunteers  did  gallant  service  in  1862. 
The  Twenty-fourth  remained  on  duty  on  Cole's  Island  until 
the  last  of  May,  when,  the  island  being  abandoned  by  Gen- 
eral Pemberton's  order,  the  regiment  was  ordered  to  James 
Island. 

In  the  biography  of  his  father.  General  Isaac  I.  Stevens,  U. 
S.  A.,  Captain  Hazard  Stevens  gives  us  a  detailed  account  of 
the  operations  by  the  Federal  forces  which  precipitated  the 
James  Island  campaign,  with  the  city  of  Charleston  as  the 
coveted  reward  of  success.  It  appears  from  his  account  that 
General  Hunter  and  General  Benham  adopted  a  blundering 
plan  instead  of  the  more  intelligent  and  more  hopeful  one 
urged  by  General  Stevens,  with  the  consequence  that  there 
was  no  concert  of  action  by  the  Federal  troops,  and  they  were 
rushing  in  by  "piecemeal"  against  the  formidable  works  the 
Confederates  had  thrown  up  in  front  of  Secessionville,  with 
the  inevitable  result  of  a  humiliating  defeat  and  the  failure  of 
the  campaign.  We  quote  what  Captain  Stevens  has  to  say  in 
regard  to  the  landing  of  troops  on  James  Island  and  the 
engagement  of  June  3,  as  he  too,  though  unconsciously,  bears 


52  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

testimony  to  the  conspicuous  gallantry  of  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Capers  upon  that  occasion.    He  says  : 

"The  transports  landed  two  miles  below  Grimball's  planta- 
tion and  opposite  a  hamlet  on  John's  Island,  known  as  Legare- 
ville.  A  strong  picket  was  thrown  ashore  on  James  Island  for 
the  night,  it  being  too  late  to  land  the  troops.  On  the  3d  of 
June  they  [the  troops]  were  put  on  shore  in  small  boats  and, 
General  Stevens  advancing  with  them,  drove  the  enemy  back, 
who  were  in  strong  force,  and  after  sharp  action  captured  three 
guns  which  they  were  moving  to  their  inner  line;  and  estab- 
lished a  permanent  picket  two  and  one  half  miles  from  the 
river,  running  diagonally  across  the  island  from  Big  Folly 
Creek  to  Stono  River,  near  Grimball.  Driving  back  the  enemy. 
General  Stevens  occupied  the  negro  quarters  with  six  com- 
panies. 

The  enemy  held  the  woods  in  front,  and  both  sides 
opened  a  brisk  musketry  fire  across  the  broad  intervening  cot- 
ton field.  Soon  afterward  a  column  of  the  enemy,  apparently 
a  regiment,  which  was  in  fact  the  Charleston  Battalion,  the 
crack  corps  of  the  city,  emerged  from  the  woods  and  advanced 
by  the  flank  in  columns  of  four  headed  by  a  mounted  officer. 
In  this  order  they  charged  down  the  road  and  across  the  field 
at  the  double  quick,  and  notwithstanding  the  fire  of  the  com- 
panies stationed  in  the  negro  quarters  actually  penetrated  the 
huildings;  our  companies  gave  way,  and  for  a  moment  they 
[the  Confederates]  had  the  position." 

This  attack  upon  the  One  Hundredth  Pennsylvania  Regi- 
ment, after  it  had  driven  in  the  pickets  in  front  of  Secession- 
ville,  and  pushed  them  across  the  causeway  at  Rivers'  Place, 
opened  the  James  Island  Campaign  of  '62.  The  "mounted  offi- 
cer" to  whom  Captain  Stevens  refers  as  leading  the  gallant 
assault  was  Lieutenant-Colonel  Capers.  As  bearing  upon  Cap- 
tain Stevens'  account  of  the  engagement  of  the  3d.  and 
for  an  accurate  statement  of  the  facts,  the  following  quota- 
tion from  a  letter  written  by  Bishop  Capers  to  Mr.  Yates 
Snowden  is  of  interest.    The  letter  bears  date  Columbia,  S.  C, 


ELLISON  CAPERS  53 

October  5,  1900.  "In  Mr.  Stevens'  account  of  the  engage- 
ment of  June  3,  he  does  not  state  facts.  If  you  will  read  Gail- 
lard's  and  my  own  reports  of  the  affair  ("War  Records,"  vol. 
xiv. ),  you  will  readily  see  the  exaggerations  of  Mr.  Stevens, 

"I  led  the  charge  on  the  negro  houses  and  we  captured  the 
whole  force,  but  I  was  obliged  to  order  a  retreat  and  could 
bring  away  only  Captain  Clina  and  about  twenty  of  his  men, 
because  re-enforcements  were  hurrying  on  us  from  the  Bat- 
tery Island  side  of  the  Island,  and  the  guns  in  Stono 
had  opened  on  our  men.  The  charge  was  not  made  by  the 
Charleston  Battalion  alone,  but  by  three  companies  of  the 
Charleston  Battalion  and  one  of  the  Twenty-fourth  South 
Carolina  Volunteers.  .  .  .  Chichester,  in  attempting  to  bring 
his  heavy  siege  howitzers  over  River's  East  Causeway,  got  three 
of  them  badly  bogged,  and  had  to  leave  them.  I  was  sent  before 
day  on  June  3,  with  part  of  the  Twenty-fourth  and  a  big  rope, 
to  pull  the  guns  out  of  the  bog,  and  had  no  idea  of  a  fight  until  I 
got  to  Lamar's  fort.  There  Lamar  told  me  if  I  got  the  guns 
I  would  have  to  fight  for  them.  /  did  fight  for  them,  and 
drove  the  enemy  back  to  Legare's  negro  houses  and  charged  the 
houses,  and  when  we  fell  back,  we  fell  back  to  a  ditch  way 

beyond  the and  why  the  regiments,  which  by  that 

time  came  up  and  took  position  at  River's,  did  not  pull  the 
guns  out  of  the  bog  I  cannot  say.  They  stayed  there  all  day 
the  3d,  and  were  carried  off  that  night,  while  our  whole  force 
fell  back  to  the  lines  and  to  Secessionville." 

The  poet  Paul  H.  Hayne  relates  the  following  incident  as 
told  to  him  by  one  of  the  soldiers  who  took  part  in  the  attack 
upon  the  strong  position  of  the  enemy  in  the  cabins  just 
referred  to :  "  'The  Blue  Boys'  occupied  a  powerful  position 
behind  some  dense  undergrowth  fringed  by  an  orchard,  and 
besides  had  possession  of  some  negro  cabins,  which  protected 
them  finely.  It  became  imperative  to  dislodge  the  enemy,  when 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Capers  in  command  galloped  to  the  front 
of  the  Confederates  exclaiming :  T  want  volunteers  to  charge 
the  enemy  in  those  cabins.     Boys,  who  will  go  with  me  ?'     In 


54  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

response  one  company  of  the  Twenty- fourth  and  three  com- 
panies of  the  Charleston  BattaHon  stepped  out.  'Forward!' 
shouted  the  leader.  'God  and  our  rights!  Charge!'  A 
spirited  attack  ensued,  splendidly  led  by  the  young  colonel, 
and  the  Yankees  were  driven  pell-mell  from  their  lodgment 
in  woods  and  cabins  and  fiercely  pursued  until  the  gunboats 
were  opened  to  protect  them."  Thus  at  the  very  inception  of 
his  army  life  Lieutenant-Colonel  Capers  was  modestly  but 
heroically  proving  himself  worthy  of  his  heritage  as  patriot 
and  soldier. 

On  the  morning  of  June  i6,  at  one  o'clock,  the  Battle  of 
Secessionville  on  James  Island  was  opened  by  what  Colonel 
Capers  described  as  "the  gallant  assault  of  the  Eighth  Michi- 
gan, Seventh  Connecticut,  Seventy-ninth  New  York,  the  Twen- 
ty-eighth Massachusetts,  the  One  Hundredth  Pennsylvania, 
and  the  Forty-sixth  New  York,  with  Rockwell  and  Stranham's 
light  batteries,  and  a  company  of  engineers."  In  the  battle 
which  ensued  Lieutenant-Colonel  Capers  was  detached  by 
Colonel  Hagood's  order  to  open  and  direct  the  fire  of  the  two- 
gun  battery  in  front  of  Clark's  house,  on  the  west  flank  of  the 
work  of  Secessionville. 

In  writing  to  Mrs.  Capers  on  the  day  following  the  engage- 
ment he  relates  this,  his  first  experience  in  war  as  artil- 
lerist. (He  inclosed  a  map  to  which  the  letters  refer.)  "It  was 
all  important  to  open  the  battery  at  'A'  (Reed's  Battery),  and 
Colonel  Hagood  (senior  to  Stevens  and  in  command)  ordered 
me  to  gallop  round  via  the  cross  roads  'B'  and  order  the  fire  of 
the  battery  on  'H'.  (On  this  run  I  lost  the  nice  haversack  you 
made  me.)  When  I  got  to  the  battery  I  found  a  lieutenant  and 
ten  or  fifteen  men,  and  in  reply  to  my  question  why  they  had 
not  fired  on  the  enemy  just  over  the  creek,  the  lieutenant  said 
that  he  and  his  men  were  green  and  had  just  come;  did  not 
understand  the  ammunition,  but  were  ready  and  anxious  to  do 
their  best.  I  loaded  and  pointed  the  right  gun,  which  kicked 
off  the  narrow  platform  and  upset.  Then  I  loaded  and 
pointed  the  other  piece,  double  shelled,  guessed  at  the  distance 


ELLISON  CAPERS  55 

for  the  fuses,  and  put  two  willing  fellows  with  hand  and  spike 
to  stop  the  recoil,  and  then  let  the  rascals  have  it.  By  this  time 
the  men  took  hold  as  if  they  had  been  drilled,  and  I  ordered 
them  to  drive  the  Yankees  away  from  'H'.  I  then  galloped 
up  to  Clark's  house  and  reported  the  situation  to  General 
Evans,  who  was  upstairs  in  the  window,  looking  over  the 
field.  General  Smith  was  there  also,  and  they  ordered  me 
peremptorily  back  to  fight  the  guns.  I  went  immediately,  and 
we  kept  our  piece  going  as  fast  as  we  could  load  and  fire. 
Both  the  generals  thanked  me  personally,  and  both  of  them 
said  that  my  gun  mainly  contributed  to  drive  the  enemy  from 
'H.'  I  am  sure  Ave  contributed  our  full  share  in  the  gallant 
fight,  and  with  that  I  am  satisfied,  as  I  know  you  will  be." 

That  this  little  one-gun  battery  did  contribute  its  full  share 
to  the  victory  is  also  attested  by  the  frequent  references  Cap- 
tain Hazard  Stevens  makes  to  the  havoc  it  wrought  among 
his  father's  and  other  troops.  In  describing  the  attack  of 
the  Federal  troops  he  says :  "For  a  mile  to  the  right  of  Bat- 
tery Lamar  on  the  main  line  was  Battery  Reed,  commanding 
the  twenty- four  pounders  and  commanding  the  ground  in  front 
of  the  Battery  Lamar  with  a  searching  cross  fire."  And  again 
when  describing  the  assault  upon  the  works,  the  same  author 
says :  "While  the  Highlanders  were  thus  storming  the  work, 
the  left  wing  of  the  Roundheads  and  some  of  the  Highlanders 
were  cut  off  and  driven  to  the  left  by  a  terrible  hail  which 
smote  them,  yet  pushed  determinedly  on  and  dashed  them- 
selves against  the  fort.  But  here  the  front  was  well  protected 
by  abattis,  and  afforded  no  opening,  and  the  Battery  Reed 
raked  them  terribly.  The  men  fell  by  scores,  the  line  losi  its 
impetus,  and  the  survivors  threw  themselves  on  the  ground 
behind  the  cotton  rows  for  protection."  And  a  third  time  he 
comments  on  the  effective  work  of  this  famous  little  battery, 
when  he  describes  the  assault  of  the  Pennsylvania,  Rhode 
Island,  and  New  Hampshire  troops:  "For  half  an  hour  they 
maintained  the  contest,  sustaining  unflinchingly  a  severe  fire 
from  the   fort   and   the   Fourth   Louisiana  Battalion,    which 


56  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

hastened  to  re-enforce  it,  raked  by  the  Reed  Battery  on  the 
left,  and  smitten  in  the  rear  by  Boyce's  field  battery." 

A  few  days  after  the  battle  of  Secessionville  Colonel  Capers 
was  gratified  to  receive  this  well  merited  recognition  from  the 
Commanding  General,  commending  the  splendid  service  of 
the  little  battery  and  his  own  prowess  and  courage : 

Headquarters,    James    Island, 

June   22,    1862. 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Capers,  24TH  S.  C, 

James  Island. 
Colonel:  In  the  absence  of  General  Evans,  first  in  command  on  the 
i6th  inst.,  allow  me  to  thank  you  and  the  small  detachment  of  North 
Carolina  Artillery  under  your  command  for  the  efficient  and  distinguished 
service  w^hich  w^as  rendered  by  the  Battery  Reed  upon  that  date.  Make 
known  to  the  detachment  my  thanks. 

Respectfully, 

Your  obedient   servant, 
William  Duncan  Smith, 

Brig.-General  Commanding. 

Lieutenant-Colonel  Capers  was  already  beginning  to  inspire 
his  men  with  that  confidence  and  enthusiasm  so  essential  to 
successful  leadership.  Many  evidences  of  this  are  at  hand, 
but  we  select  as  being  perhaps  the  most  natural  expression  of 
this  sentiment  this  description  of  the  young  officer,  found  in 
a  letter  writter  by  one  of  his  company  captains,  to  the  "home 
folks,"  December  14,  1862. 

"We  are  expecting  to  go  to  General  Lee's  assistance  now 
in  a  few  days.  Colonel  Capers  is  in  command,  and  I  know 
we  will  be  led  in  a  becoming  manner.  He  is  a  splendid,  gal- 
lant, dashing  fellow,  not  more  than  twenty-eight  years  of  age. 
Let  him  go  where  he  will,  I  will  follow  him !" 

It  may  be  added  that  Colonel  Capers  was  then  not  as  old 
even  as  twenty-eight,  having  celebrated  his  twenty-fifth  birth- 
day in  October  just  past. 


CHAPTER  VI 

FROM  SHILOH  TO  JACKSON 

Flushed  with  his  success  in  the  capture  of  Forts  Henry  and 
Donelson,  General  Grant  marched  his  army  south.  The  Con- 
federate forces  under  General  Albert  Sidney  Johnston  were 
slowly  withdrawn  toward  their  rendezvous  at  Corinth,  Miss. 
By  the  5th  of  April,  1862,  the  Federal  Army  was  at  Savannah 
and  Pittsburg  Landing,  on  the  Tennessee  River.  General 
Johnston  had  moved  out  from  Corinth,  with  a  view  of  sur- 
prising the  enemy  and  fighting  "the  great  battle  of  the  South- 
west." at  Shiloh  Church.  Unavoidably  delayed,  his  army  "got 
up"  a  day  late,  and  Grant  had  made  his  dispositions  to  meet 
the  attack  of  his  assailants.  The  battle  was  joined  early  on  the 
moming  of  the  6th,  and  was  fiercely  contested  throughout 
the  day.  By  sundown  the  Federal  army,  driven  to  the  inef- 
fectual protection  of  their  gunboats,  and  virtually  routed, 
escaped  destruction  only  by  the  timely  intervention  of  Provi- 
dence. In  General  Johnston's  death  in  this  battle  the  master 
hand  was  withdrawn. 

The  confusion  and  misunderstanding  among  officers  after 
Johnston  fell  prevented  a  forward  movement  of  the  whole 
army  and  victory  slipped  from  the  grasp  of  the  successful 
Confederates.  During  the  night  Grant  was  re-enforced  by 
Buell's  army.  In  the  second  day's  fight  his  troops  were  vic- 
torious, and,  though  not  strong  enough  to  pursue,  they 
remained  in  undisputed  possession  of  the  field.  Shiloh  brought 
fresh  laurels  to  Grant  and  gave  prestige  and  power  to  his 
name.  The  fame  of  him  began  to  fill  the  land,  his  "lucky 
star"  was  in  the  ascendency,  and  there  were  not  wanting  those 
who  even  then  looked  upon  him  as  the  "Man  of  Destiny" 
whose  genius  and  devotion  were  to  save  the  Union. 

57 


58  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

In  the  popular  mind  Grant's  reputation  as  a  general  chiefly 
rests  upon  his  campaigns  in  Virginia  which  culminated  in 
General  Lee's  surrender  to  him  at  Appomattox.  If  those  cam- 
paigns were  his  only  contributions  during  the  war  he  would 
not  deserve  the  high  place  assigned  him  among  the  great  mili- 
tary chieftains  of  history. 

It  is  Grant's  campaign  against  Vicksburg  which  furnishes 
the  best  evidence  of  his  military  genius,  indomitable  persis- 
tence, and  undaunted  personal  courage.  In  this  campaign  he 
reveals  himself  as  a  great  soldier,  a  born  leader  of  troops 
and  commander  of  men.  We  are  not  here  engaged  in  writing 
a  history  of  this  campaign,  but  are  merely  sketching  the  move- 
ment of  Federal  and  Confederate  troops  toward  Jackson, 
Miss.,  where  Gist's  brigade  makes  its  first  appearance  in  the 
battles  of  the  West.  And  yet  we  must  pause  to  admire  the 
commander  who  planned  and  the  soldiers  v,ho  executed  the 
details  of  this  brilliant  campaign.  Vicksburg  was  the  Gibral- 
tar of  the  South.  It  was  the  all-important  link  connecting  the 
Confederacv  east  and  we';^"  of  th*^  ^^i=<;issippi.  As  a  strategic 
point  it  blocked  the  complete  navigation  of  the  "Father  of 
Waters."  In  1864  Sherman  wrote  to  Grant:  "Too  great 
importance  cannot  be  given  to  the  capture  of  Vicksburg,  and 
in  the  progress  of  time  its  capture  will  stand  out  as  the  great 
event  of  the  war." 

Grant's  efforts  on  the  west  side  of  the  river,  which  occupied 
his  men  most  of  the  winter,  were  mere  experiments  and 
availed  nothing.  The  brilliant  part  of  his  campaign  began 
when  he  had  finally  succeeded  in  making  a  landing  at  Grand 
Gulf,  on  the  east  side  of  the  river,  below  Vicksburg.  Hav- 
ing planned  to  co-operate  with  General  Banks  in  the  capture 
of  Port  Hudson,  making  New  Orleans  his  base,  and  return 
wath  combined  forces  to  the  siege  of  Vicksburg;  he  learned 
at  Grand  Gulf  that  Banks  could  not  reach  Port  Hudson  within 
ten  days ;  and,  further,  that  troops  were  being  mobilized  at 
Jackson,  Miss.,  for  the  relief  of  Pemberton  in  Vicksburg.  He 
therefore  acted  on  the  instinct  of  genius,  and  at  once  abandoned 


ELLISON  CAPERS  59 

the  campaign  against  Port  Hudson  and  as  promptly  conceived 
and  began  the  execution  of  his  bold  design  to  force  his  army 
up  between  those  of  Generals  Pemberton  and  Johnston,  and 
fight  them  in  detail.  To  do  this  he  had  to  abandon  his  base, 
and  while  this  relieved  him  of  the  task  of  keeping  intact  his 
line  of  communication,  it  forced  his  army  to  the  necessity  of 
living  upon  the  country  through  which  it  passed.  McCler- 
nand's,  Sherman's,  and  McPherson's  corps  were  put  in  motion, 
their  formation  running  west  to  east,  and  practically  parallel 
to  the  railroad  connecting  Jackson  and  Vicksburg.  Within 
three  weeks  five  battles  had  been  fought  and  won,  and  Vicks- 
burg finally  assaulted  from  the  east  side  of  the  river. 

When  Sherman's  corps  moved  into  position  on  Walnut 
Ridge,  where  nine  months  before  the  Federal  army  had  tried 
in  vain  to  make  a  lodgment  from  which  to  bombard  the  city, 
the  investment  of  Vicksburg  was  complete. 

This  campaign  was  indeed  Grant's  masterpiece,  for  while 
it  is  true  he  fought  in  the  sure  confidence  of  ever-increasing 
troops,  until  before  General  Pemberton  surrendered,  eighty 
thousand  Federal  troops  had  (to  use  Grant's  own  expression) 
"out-camped  the  enemy" ;  yet  it  is  also  true  that  when  he  found 
it  would  be  ten  days  before  Banks  could  co-operate  with  him 
against  Port  Hudson,  he  did  as  Stonewall  Jackson  or  Napoleon 
would  have  done ;  he  appreciated  the  value  of  the  time  element 
that  enters  into  all  military  operations,  and  staked  the  possibili- 
ties of  ten  days  against  the  chances  for  success  in  a  more 
cautious  policy  of  delay  and  preparation.  He  staked  all  and 
w^on  all.  It  is  also  true  that  when  General  Grant  entered  on 
this  bold  campaign  he  did  so  with  a  full  knowledge  that  cir- 
cunistanccs  must  develop  the  details,  and  with  confidence  in 
his  own  ability  to  meet  contingencies  as  they  arose.  He  real- 
ized that  his  army  must  operate  in  a  territory  new  to  them, 
where  the  inhabitants  were  naturally  hostile  to  the  invading 
troops.  For  all  this,  and  the  manner  in  which  the  campaign 
was  brought  to  a  successful  end.  General  Grant  deserves,  as 
he  has  received,  unstinted  praise.     And  yet  from  a  retrospec- 


6o  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

tive  point  of  view  his  task  was  not  as  difficult  as  it  probably- 
appeared  to  him,  or  as  it  has  been  represented. 

The  part  Gist's  brigade  contributed  toward  making  the 
evacuation  of  Jackson  a  success  furnishes  a  good  illustration, 
not  only  of  how  inadequate  were  the  Confederate  forces  to 
the  task  of  "driving  out  the  invader,"  but  also  of  how  skirmish 
lines  and  detached  forces  were  taken  for  and  reported  by  the 
enemy  as  "corps,"  "divisions,"  and  "armies."  A  distinguished 
soldier  directs  our  attention  to  this  particular  occasion.  He 
says :  "Looking  back  at  the  events  it  seems  almost  ludicrous 
to  read  in  the  report  of  Major  General  McPherson,  command- 
ing the  Seventeenth  Army  Corps,  the  account  of  the  formidable 
dispositions  he  made  to  attack  the  little  brigade  at  Wright's 
house.  These  dispositions  are  given  in  great  detail.  General 
McPherson  expresses  his  anxiety  for  the  arrival  of  Logan's 
division,  which  he  wished  to  hold  as  a  reserve.  All  of  which 
was  done  under  the  impression  that  'the  enemy  was  posted  in 
strong  force  under  General  W.  H.  T.  Walker.'  Thus,  accord- 
ing to  his  report,  the  accomplished  General  McPherson  had  six 
brigades  arrayed  in  battle  against  a  little  brigade  of  two  bat- 
talions, one  regiment,  and  one  battery  of  four  guns,  and  com- 
manded, not  by  General  W.  H.  T.  Walker,  but  by  Colonel 
Colquitt  on  the  right  and  Lieutenant-Colonel  Capers  on  the 
left  wing."  , 

This  brings  our  narrative  to  the  evacuation  of  Jackson,  and 
it  seems  well  that  the  thread  of  our  story  be  taken  up  where  in 
South  Carolina  Gist  was  preparing  to  join  the  army  in  the 
West. 

"In  May,  1863,  Joseph  E.  Johnston  was  ordered  to  the  relief 
of  General  Pemberton,  besieged  in  Vicksburg,  Miss.,  by  the 
army  of  General  Grant.  The  Twenty-fourth  South  Carolina 
Volunteers,  with  Gist's  entire  brigade,  was  among  the  troops 
sent  to  General  Johnston.  The  three  regiments.  Forty-sixth 
Georgia,  Sixteenth  South  Carolina,  Twenty- fourth  South 
Carolina,  and  the  Eighth  Georgia  Battalion  marched  to  the 
depot  of  the  South  Carolina  railroad  on  Mary  Street,  embarked 


ELLISON  CAPERS  6i 

in  freight  and  flat  cars,  and  left  Charleston  in  four  sections  on 
the  morning  of  the  6th  of  May,  the  head  of  the  brigade  arriv- 
ing in  Jackson  on  the  evening  of  the  13th.  after  eight  days 
and  seven  nights  of  travel,  transferring  tents  and  baggage  from 
train  to  boat  and  boat  to  train  six  times."* 

Along  the  entire  route  they  were  greeted  at  every  station  by 
the  people,  who  saluted  them  by  waving  flags,  handkerchiefs, 
and  by  every  expression  of  patriotic  approval.  The  men  and 
officers,  crowded  into  unclean  baggage  cars  or  on  open  flats, 
were  cheerful  and  exultant,  and  responded  to  the  enthusiasm 
of  the  people  by  waving  their  hats  and  cheering  lustily  at 
every  stop. 

This  brigade  was  then  in  command  of  the  ranking 
officer.  Colonel  Peyton  Colquitt,  of  Georgia.  The  Twenty- 
fourth  South  Carolina  arrived  at  Jackson,  Miss.,  in  advance  of 
the  brigade,  and  in  obedience  to  orders  took  possession  of  the 
Clinton  road,  with  a  view  of  holding  McPherson's  corps  in 
check  while  the  city  of  Jackson  was  being  evacuated.  On  the 
following  morning,  the  14th  inst.,  the  enemy  attacked  in 
force,  and  the  brigade  made  a  heroic  resistance,  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Capers  commanding  the  left  from  sunrise  until  mid- 
day, when  his  horse  was  killed  from  under  him,  and,  remount- 
ing, he  was  severely  w^ounded  in  the  left  leg.  In  his  sketch  of 
Gist's  brigade  Colonel  Capers  gives  the  following  account  of 
the  engagement  on  the  Clinton  road,  in  w^hich  the  Tw^enty- 
fourth  South  Carolina  Regiment  and  its  commanding  officer 
greatly  distinguished  themselves : 

"The  head  of  General  Gist's  brigade  reached  Jackson  on  the 
night  of  the  13th  of  May,  the  Twenty- fourth  South  Carolina 
Volunteers,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Capers  commanding  (Colonel 
Stevens  being  detained  for  twenty- four  hours  in  Charleston), 
and  part  of  the  Forty-sixth  Georgia,  Colonel  Colquitt,  General 
Joseph  E.  Johnston  and  staff  on  the  train ;  Grant's  army  was 
advancing  on  the  city  (Jackson),  by  the  Clinton  and  Raymond 
roads,  and  Johnston  had  about  six  thousand  troops  at  his 
immediate    command.      .     .     .     The    Twenty-fourth    South 

*Report  Col.   Capers. 


62  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

Carolina  and  five  companies  of  the  Twenty-sixth  Georgia,  of 
Gist's  brigade,  with  the  Fourteenth  Mississippi,  and  Captain 
J.  A.  Hoskin's  Battery  of  four  pieces,  were  ordered  by  General 
Johnston  to  move  out  at  dayhght  on  the  14th,  under  Colonel 
Colquitt,  and  take  position  on  the  Clinton  road  at  a  point  desig- 
nated by  Brigadier-General  John  Gregg,  and  check  the  enemy's 
advance  as  long  as  possible,  the  object  being  to  gain  time  to 
remove  stores  from  Jackson. 

"The  Forty-sixth  Georgia  (five  companies)  and  the  Four- 
teenth Mississippi  battalions  were  posted  on  the  right  of  the 
road,  and  the  Twenty-fourth  South  Carolina  and  Hoskin's 
battery  on  the  left.  The  position  was  at  Wright's  farm,  the 
commands  being  on  the  right  and  left  of  his  house.  The 
Twenty- fourth  was  advanced  some  distance  to  take  advantage 
of  a  garden  fence  and  the  artillery  placed  in  battery  on  the 
crown  of  the  hill,  one  gun  behind  the  Twenty-fourth,  in  sup- 
port, and  three  at  the  main  road.  The  little  brigade  did  not 
number  over  nine  hundred  men  and  officers,  and  was  attacked 
at  9  A.  M.  by  the  Seventh  Division  of  the  Seventeenth  Army 
Corps,  composed  of  three  brigades,  with  four  light  batteries, 
and  it  held  its  position  until  2  p.  m.  before  it  was  forced  to 
retire.  The  enemy's  official  reports  put  down  their  losses  as 
follows:  Second  Brigade,  215;  Third  Brigade,  37;  Fourth 
Brigade,  i.^:  Total  in  division,  265.  No  report  of  losses  in 
the  Federal  artillery." 

In  defending  this  position  the  little  brigade  of  two  bat- 
talions, one  regiment,  and  four  guns  lost  198  men  and  officers, 
killed,  wounded,  and  captured.  The  heaviest  loss  was  in  the 
Twenty-fourth  South  Carolina,  which  held  its  position  longest 
and  lost  105  men  and  officers.  On  the  enemy's  part  their  main 
loss  was  in  the  center  brigade,  which  made  the  direct  attack  in 
front. 

In  the  final  assault,  whirh  carried  the  position  and  forced  a 
retreat  on  Jackson,  the  fighting  is  described  by  the  commander 
of  the  Tenth  Missouri,  which,  with  the  Seventeenth  Iowa, 
Eightieth  Ohio,  one  company,  E  of  the  Twenty-fourth  Mis- 


ELLISON  CAPERS  63 

souri,  and  the  Fifty-sixth  IIHnois,  made  up  the  Second  bri- 
gade: 

"Colonel  Holmes  commanding  the  Second  Brigade  now- 
ordered  bayonets  fixed  and  a  charge  to  be  made  upon  the 
works.  The  troops  moved  forward  at  the  double  quick,  cheer- 
ing wildly,  driving  in  first  skirmishers,  and  then  the  mainline, 
passing  over  about  five  hundred  yards  under  a  terrific  fire  of 
shell,  canister,  and  musketry,  to  the  house  of  C.  P.  Wright,  in 
and  behind  which,  and  the  hedges  and  fences  and  the  trees 
surrounding  it,  the  Rebels  were  hidden  and  protected.  Here 
ensued  an  almost  hand-to-hand  conflict  with  the  Twenty- 
fourth  Regiment  South  Carolina  Volunteers,  the  Tenth  Mis- 
souri suffering  from  the  streams  of  fire  which  issued  from 
behind  every  object  which  would  furnish  protection  to  the 
enemy.  We  succeeded  finally  in  dislodging  them  and  driving 
them  some  two  hundred  yards  to  the  left  (enemy's  left)  and 
toward  the  main  road  toward  Jackson.  Re-forming  our  line,  a 
section  of  the  Sixth  Wisconsin  was  rapidly  brought  upon 
the  field."  etc. 

"But  the  Twenty- fourth  South  Carolina,  now  under  com- 
mand of  Major  Appleby,  had  followed  the  Forty-sixth  Geor- 
gia, the  Fourteenth  Mississippi  Battalion  and  Hoskin's  battery 
in  retreat,  and  joined  General  Johnston's  little  army  moving 
out  from  Jackson  on  the  Canton  road.  In  the  fight  above 
described  the  attack  on  the  batteries  of  the  Forty-sixth  Geor- 
gia and  the  Fourteenth  Mississippi  was  made  principally  by 
the  Seventeenth  Iowa  and  the  Eightieth  Ohio  regiments,  and 
was  well  sustained  by  the  Georgians  and  Mississippians.  The 
conduct  of  Captain  Hoskin's  battery  was  beyond  praise.  But 
for  the  service  of  his  four  guns  the  position  could  not 
have  been  held  two  hours  against  the  attack  of  the  Federal 
division."* 

Writing  to  General  Beauregard  from  Canton,  on  the  25th 
of  May,  General  Gist  says : 


"M 


None  of  the  troops  of  your  department  reached  Jackson 
*Colonel  Capers'  Report. 


64  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

in  time  for  the  affair  at  Raymond.  Only  two  regiments  of 
General  W.  H.  T.  Walker's,  Martin's  Battery,  Twenty- fourth 
South  Carolina,  five  companies  of  the  Forty-sixth  Georgia  and 
Eighth  Georgia  Battalion,  arrived  in  time  to  participate  in  the 
engagement  and  the  evacuation  of  the  city.  I  got  within  six 
miles  and  was  ordered  back  by  General  Johnston,  with  the 
remainder  of  Walker's  and  my  own  brigade.  The  only  troops 
of  my  brigade  engaged  at  Jackson  were  those  mentioned  above, 
and  all  officers  join  in  awarding  them  highest  praises  for  their 
soldierly  conduct  and  gallantry.  The  Twenty-fourth  Regiment 
South  Carolina  Volunteers,  Lieutenant-Colonel  Capers  com- 
manding, particularly  distinguished  themselves." 

In  this  "hand  to  hand  conflict"  which  the  Federal  com- 
mander, Colonel  Holmes,  describes  above,  Colonel  Capers 
received  his  first  wound.  So  intent  was  he  on  holding  his  posi- 
tion as  long  as  possible,  and  so  engrossed  in  encouraging  his 
gallant  men  to  stand  firm,  that  he  was  unconscious  of  being 
wounded  until  his  adjutant  remarked  upon  his  paleness,  and 
he  felt  the  blood  from  his  wound  in  his  left  leg  sloshing  in 
his  boot.  But  he  "kept  the  saddle"  until  he  fainted  from  loss 
of  blood  and  weakness,  when  he  was  borne  to  the  rear.  How- 
ever, he  did  not  leave  the  field  without  a  trophy  of  the  fray — • 
the  rifle  of  a  sharpshooter  he  had  captured  in  a  personal 
encounter  just  prior  to  the  general  advance  of  the  Federal 
troops. 

Lieutenant-Colonel  Capers  had  ridden  out  to  inspect  the 
advance  skirmish  line  and  get,  if  possible,  a  view  of  the  enemy 
preparing  to  attack.  He  had  not  been  long  in  his  position  of 
observation  when  the  bullet  of  a  sharpshooter  whistled  uncom- 
fortably near,  then  another,  and  again  a  third.  A  pufif  of 
smoke  revealed  the  location  of  the  rifleman,  who  was  firing 
from  the  corner  of  a  "worm  fence."  Some  of  his  aids  sug- 
gested that  the  Colonel  retire  to  a  safer  place.  To  their  aston- 
ishment he  declared  that  the  fellow  was  so  bold  in  taking  his 
advanced  and  exposed  position  that  he  had  decided  to  capture 
him  himself.    Then  putting  his  words  to  action,  he  appeared  to 


ELLISON  CAPERS  65 

retire,  and  after  reaching  the  woods,  dismounted.  With 
sword  in  one  hand  and  pistol  in  the  other,  he  made  his  way 
to  the  fence  and  crept  cautiously  through  the  bushes  and  in 
and  out  the  "worms"  or  turns  of  the  fence.  In  this  manner 
he  came  to  the  opposite  side  of  the  fence  from  where  the 
unsuspecting  rifleman  was  leisurely  firing  away  at  the  "enemy." 
Here  the  Colonel  waited  until  the  sharpshooter  fired  his  rifle, 
when,  springing  forward,  he  demanded  his  surrender.  The 
"Yank"  "showed  fight"  and  made  an  effort  to  dispute  his 
prowess  with  the  venturesome  officer.  In  apparent  obedience 
to  the  summons  to  surrender  he  mounted  the  fence,  when 
from  his  perch  he  swung  a  terrific  blow  with  his  rifle  at  the 
head  of  his  captor.  The  blow  was  parried  by  the  Colonel  with 
his  sword,  and  before  the  soldier  could  "gather  himself"  for 
renewed  resistance  he  was  looking  down  the  muzzle  of  a  revol- 
ver. Convinced  that  "discretion  is  the  better  part  of  valor," 
he  immediately  made  overtures  for  peace.  Between  the  old 
"worm"  fence  and  the  Confederate  skirmish  line  the  "gray" 
and  the  "blue"  made  good  friends,  and  the  brave  rifleman  was 
sent  to  the  rear  as  the  personal  prisoner  of  his  captor.  In  the 
engagement  following,  Colonel  Capers  was  wounded,  as  we 
have  stated,  and  while  resting  at  his  quarters  he  renewed  his 
acquaintance  with  the  prisoner.  In  after  years,  when  telling 
the  story  of  the  rusty  old  rifle  in  the  corner  of  his  study.  Bishop 
Capers  never  failed  to  pay  tribute  to  the  cool  courage  of  the 
soldier;  whom  he  declared  he  found  "a  most  intelligent  young 
fellow  who,  though  in  error,  thought  he  was  right." 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE    NINE    HUNDRED    AND    EIGHTY    AT    CHICKAMAUGA 

ViCKSBURG  capitulated  on  the  4th  of  July,  1863,  the  day  after 
General  Lee  finally  failed  of  success  at  Gettysburg.  The  tide 
of  adversity  was  bearing  hard  against  the  Confederacy.  Gen- 
eral Bragg  was  slowly  retreating  toward  the  Tennessee  River, 
while  Rosecrans  endeavored  to  press  him  under  the  erroneous 
impression  that  the  Confederates  were  on  "the  verge  of  a  rout." 
East  Tennessee  was  threatened  by  General  Burnside's  army, 
which  had  made  its  appearance  at  Cumberland  Gap.  General 
Bragg  finally  crossed  the  Tennessee  and  fortified  himself  in 
Chattanooga.  Here  Rosecrans  was  relieved  of  the  impression 
that  the  army  of  Tennessee  was  "flying  before  him,"  and  for 
the  first  time  realized  that  General  Bragg  was  preparing  to  give 
battle.  Rosecrans  divided  his  army  into  three  corps  and  began 
an  attempt  to  turn  the  flank  of  the  enemy.  General  Crittenden 
was  ordered  to  march  his  corps  forty  miles  above  Chattanooga, 
toward  Cleveland,  and  then  to  move  southeast  toward  Ring- 
gold, and  turn  the  Confederate  right.  General  McCook, 
marching  to  the  south  of  Chattanooga,  was  to  threaten  Rome, 
Ga.,  and  draw  Bragg's  attention  in  that  direction  and  so  assist 
Crittenden  in  the  execution  of  his  flank  movement.  The  corps 
of  General  George  H.  Thomas  was  pushed  through  Steven's 
Gap,  along  Lookout  Mountain,  and  ordered  to  move  directly 
upon  Chattanooga.  Here,  it  is  of  interest  to  notice  that  in  the 
execution  of  these  maneuvers  General  Bragg  was  offered  two 
splendid  opportunities  to  strike  a  decisive  blow,  and  at  a  time 
when  the  effect  upon  the  South  would  have  been  as  propitious 
and  as  fruitful  of  results  as  was  the  battle  of  King's  Mountain 
in  the  darkest  hour  of  the  American  Revolution.  The  first 
opportunity  was  when  Nagley's  division  of  Thomas'  corps,  on 
the  line  of  march  along  Lookout  Mountain,  went  down  into 

66 


ELLISON  CAPERS  67 

McLemore's   Cove,   and   in   doing  so  marched   into   a  death 
trap,  of  their  escape  from  which  there  exists  no  vahd  reason. 

When  it  was  learned  that  a  part  of  this  cH vision  had  moved 
down  into  the  Cove,  General  Bragg  ordered  Hindman  to  move 
from  Lee  and  Gordon's  Mill,  Buckner  to  stand  guard  against 
an  attack  from  Crittenden,  while  General  D.  H.  Hill,  who  as 
guarding  the  mountain  passes,  was  ordered  to  come  through 
Steven's  and  Dug's  gaps  and  unite  with  Hindman  in  "trap- 
ping" Nagley.  It  thus  appeared  that  no  human  agency  could 
save  the  four  thousand  Federal  troops.  But  the  selfishness  of 
the  generals  sent  to  execute  the  order  sacrificed  the  interest 
of  the  cause  for  which  they  had  both  fought  with  such  distin- 
guished gallantry  and  skill.  Generals  Hill  and  Hindman  had 
"fallen  out."  We  are  not  prepared  to  say  whether  or  not  there 
was  a  bit  of  military  jealousy  mixed  up  in  the  unfortunate 
business.  In  any  event,  they  would  not  co-operate,  and  by  the 
time  General  Buckner  "got  up"  it  was  too  late  to  "bag  the 
game."  Realizing  his  mistake.  General  Nagley  withdrew  his 
forces  to  higher  ground,  while  re-enforcements  were  hurried 
forward  to  assist  him  in  extricating  his  troops. 

General  Bragg's  second  opportunity  was  when  General  Crit- 
tenden moved  South  in  an  effort  to  concentrate  with  McCook 
at  Rossville.  As  Crittenden  moved  to  the  south  Bragg's  army 
was  between  him  and  Thomas'  corps,  at  that  time  on  the  other 
side  of  Lookout  Mountain.  McCook  could  not  have  come  to 
his  assistance  before  General  Bragg  had  struck  the  decisive 
blow  and  destroyed  Crittenden. 

We  have  seen  it  stated,  upon  reliable  authority,  that  Gen- 
eral Bragg  issued  detailed  and  specific  orders  for  such  an 
attack,  but  for  some  reason  his  orders  were  not  obeyed.  But 
is  it  not  the  test  of  a  great  general  to  see  to  if  that  his  orders 
are  obeyed f  It  would  be  difficult  to  imagine  that  Lee  or  Jack- 
son, or  Grant,  or  even  Sherman,  would  allow  a  whole  corps  of 
the  enemy  to  slip  by  with  an  unprotected  flank  and  unite  their 
forces,  when  orders  had  been  issued  to  fall  upon  and  de- 
stroy it. 


68  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

After  this  there  was  nothing  left  for  General  Bragg  to  do 
but  evacuate  Chattanooga,  or  have  fifty  thousand  men  take 
possession  of  the  mountain  passes  behind  him.  Therefore  he 
fell  back  toward  Lafayette,  and  on  the  i8th  of  September, 
1863,  the  two  armies  were  drawn  up  in  line  of  battle  on  either 
side  of  Chickamauga  Creek  and  the  old  State  road.  General 
Polk,  commanding  the  right  wing,  made  a  demonstration  at 
Lee  and  Gordon's  mill ;  Rosecrans  moved  his  left  wing  fur- 
ther to  the  south,  opposite  Alexander's  Bridge.  On  the  morn- 
ing of  the  19th  General  Forrest  was  reconnoitering  with  his 
cavalry,  and  when  near  Reed's  Bridge  came  upon  a  detachment 
of  Federal  cavalry  similarly  engaged.  Forrest  instantly 
opened  fire,  and  the  great  battle  of  Chickamauga  was  on,  in 
dead  earnest. 

In  the  battle  of  the  igth  the  Twenty-fourth  South  Carolina 
Regiment  was  not  present,  having  been  engaged  in  detached 
service  at  Rome.  Ga.  It  was  while  the  regiment  was  at  Rome 
that  Colonel  Capers,  having  partially  recovered  from  the 
wound  received  at  Jackson,  rejoined  his  regiment.  On  the 
17th  inst.  General  Bragg  ordered  Gist's  brigade  to  report  to 
him  for  duty,  and  General  Gist  hurried  forward  all  his  troops 
for  whom  he  could  secure  transportation,  the  transportation 
agent  promising  additional  cars  for  that  portion  of  the  brigade 
left  at  Rome.  The  journey  from  Rome  was  made  in  crowded 
box  cars  and  flat  cars,  and  with  little  or  no  sleep  or  rest  since 
the  night  of  the  17th.  On  the  morning  of  the  19th  General 
Gist  rode  forward  to  Ringgold,  and  in  obedience  to  orders  his 
little  brigade  became  the  convoy  for  an  army  train  destined  for 
headquarters.  In  the  execution  of  this  work  the  brigade  was 
engaged  all  night,  and  when  the  sun  rose  on  the  morning  of 
the  20th  Gist  and  his  men  were  at  Alexander's  Bridge,  where 
while  waiting  further  orders  the  weary  troops  took  advantage 
of  a  brief  rest. 

It  was  about  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning  when  General  Gist 
approached  Generals  Polk  and  Walker,  who  were  engaged  in 
conversation.     Here  General  Hill  joined  them,  and  requested 


ELLISON  CAPERS  69 

General  Polk  to  re-enforce  him.  Complying  with  the  request, 
the  commanding  general  designated  a  certain  brigade  he 
(Hill)  could  have.  General  Hill  then  asked:  "Where  is  Gist's 
brigade?  I  have  heard  of  that  brigade."  General  Walker 
said  :  "It  is  just  coming  up.  Here  is  Gist  now."  The  brigade 
was  therefore  assigned  to  Hill,  Gist  given  command  of  a  small 
division,  and  Colonel  Colquitt,  of  the  Forty-sixth  Georgia 
Regiment,  ranking  reoimental  ofticer,  taking  command  of  the 
brigade.  Rapidly  developing  events  soon  revealed  the  fact 
that  the  iii)ic  hundred  and  eighty  brave  men  who  composed 
this  little  brigade  had  arrived  at  a  crisis  in  the  progress  of  the 
battle.  During  the  night  of  the  19th  the  Federal  General 
Baird  had  strongly  entrenched  himself  behind  breastw'orks  at 
Kelley's  Farm  and  thrown  Generals  Scribner  and  King's 
brigades  to  his  extreme  left.  The  attack  General  Bragg  had 
ordered  to  be  made  at  daylight,  on  the  morning  of  the  20th, 
was  delayed — General  D.  H.  Hill's  fault  perhaps, — General 
Polk  later  being  exonerated,  but  in  all  events  clearly  Bragg's 
responsibility.  However,  it  was  approaching  ten  o'clock  when 
Breckenridge  and  Cleburne  attacked.  The  Confederate  Gen- 
eral Helm  assaulted  King's  regulars,  and  with  great  determina- 
tion and  heroism  attempted  to  take  the  w^orks.  Once,  twice, 
three  times  his  gallant  men,  cheering  wildly,  stormed  the 
works,  but  streams  of  fire  pouring  directly  into  their  face  and 
sweeping  their  flank  decimated  their  ranks  and  they  retired, 
only  to  charge  again.  Here  General  Helm  offered  his  life 
for  the  cause  he  was  so  gallantly  defending.  While  these 
assaults  were  being  made  upon  King,  General  Polk  struck 
Scribner  at  "the  Bloody  Angle,"  but  was  also  repulsed  with 
heavy  loss.  At  about  this  stage  of  the  battle  Generals  Adams 
and  Stovall,  passing  to  the  extreme  left  of  Baird,  reached  his 
rear,  and  had  him  flanked.  Things  began  to  look  auspicious 
for  the  Confederates,  when  one  of  those  inexplicable  momen- 
tary eclipses  of  genius  occurred,  which  here  but  for  the  timely 
arrival  of  Gist's  brigade  might  have  terminated  in  the  rout  of 
Bragg's  army.     The  flanking  movement  referred  to  had,  so 


70  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

far,  succeeded,  when  General  Granger,  held  in  reserve  toward 
Rossville,  moved  his  corps  upon  the  rear  of  the  advancing  col- 
umns of  Adams  and  Stovall.  General  Hill  was  in  command 
here.  In  Virginia,  renowned  as  a  great  fighter,  he  had  just 
been  promoted  Lieutenant-General  and  sent  to  the  West.  But 
at  this  crisis  his  genius  failed  him;  directing  the  flanking 
movement  at  the  very  moment  when  it  had  succeeded,  he  left 
the  assaulting  troops  unsupported,  and  Granger's  prompt  ad- 
vance forced  them  to  retire,  and  this  opportunity  for  victory 
was  lost.  "At  that  time  the  troops  General  Gist  was  command- 
ing in  person — Ector's  and  Wilson's  brigades — were  not 
engaged,  neither  was  Liddell's.  Hi'll  should  have  ordered  these 
troops  forward  to  the  support  of  Adams  and  Stovall." 

When  these  great  assaults  were  being  made  and  repulsed 
Colquitt  led  his  nine  hundred  and  eighty  brave  men  into  bat- 
tle. Helm's  shattered  command  came  reeling  back  from 
their  bloody  attacks,  but  paused  to  cheer  the  little  brigade  as 
it  marched  on  alone  to  renew  the  assault  against  an  enemy  the 
men  could  not  see.  Colonel  Colquitt  had  been  told  that  Breck- 
enridge  was  immediately  in  his  front,  and  therefore,  when  his 
troops  plunged  into  the  woods  and  suddenly  came  upon  the 
enemy  posted  behind  breastw^orks.  the  tempest  of  musketry  and 
canister  which  raked  his  men  front  and  flank  subjected  them 
to  an  ordeal  seldom  equaled  and  never  surpassed  during  the 
war.  The  troops  had  come  thus  unexpectedly  into  a  death- 
trap. But  Caesar's  Tenth  Legion,  the  Old  Guard  of  Napo- 
leon, or  the  English  at  Waterloo  could  not  and  did  not 
behave  with  more  splendid  courage.  And  why  should  they? 
These  men  were  American  soldiers,  bred  and  trained  in  all  the 
chivalry  of  the  South.  They  had  been  trained  from  infancy 
that  they  could  not  die  better  than  "facing  fearful  odds;  for 
the  ashes  of  their  sires  and  the  temples  of  their  gods."  And  here 
even  sudden  and  terrible  death  failed  to  surprise  them  into 
fear.  In  referring  to  this  engagement  General  Gist  says  in  his 
report :  "Colonel  Colquitt  did  not  reconnoiter  the  position,  as 
he  was  instructed  our  troops  were  in  his  front.  The  enemy  now 


ELLISON  CAPERS  71 

poured  forth  a  most  destructive  and  well  aimed  fire  upon  the 
entire  line,  and  though  it  wavered  and  recoiled  under  the 
shock,  yet  by  the  exertions  of  the  gallant  Colquitt,  nobly  sec- 
tended  by  Colonels  Stevens,  Capers,  and  other  true  and  brave 
officers,  order  was  promptly  restored,  and  for  some  twenty-five 
minutes  the  terrific  fire  was  withstood  and  returned  with 
marked  effect  by  the  gallant  little  band. 

"It  was  here  the  lamented  Colquitt  fell  mortally  wounded, 
while  cheering  on  his  command,  and  in  quick  succession  the 
iron-nerved  Stevens  and  the  intrepid  Capers  were  seriously 
w^ounded,  and  man}'-  others  who  deserve  to  live  in  their  coun- 
try's memory  yielded  up  their  life's  blood.  One-third  of  the 
gallant  command  was  either  killed  or  wounded.  Reeling  under 
the  storm  of  bullets,  having  lost  all  but  two  of  their  field  offi- 
cers, the  brigade  fell  back,  fighting  to  the  position  from  which 
they  had  advanced.  The  brigades  of  Ector  and  Wilson  kept 
up  their  fire  from  the  cover, — the  enemy  did  not  venture 
beyond  their  works,  so  severely  had  they  suffered. — until  I  was 
directed  by  General  Hill  to  withdraw  them  to  the  position  they 
occupied  before  advancing,  and  re-form  my  whole  line  in  rear 
of  the  batteries  some  few  hundred  yards  distant  from  the 
enemy's  position." 

The  attack  of  Gist's  brigade  at  this  crisis  aided  materially 
in  causing  the  enemy  to  move  three  divisions  from  his  center 
and  right.  This  move  so  weakened  his  right  as  to  open  the 
way  for  the  splendid  assault  of  Longstreet's  wing.  The  part 
the  nine  hundred  and  eighty  took  in  these  successful  assaults 
constitute  their  contribution  to  the  great  battle  of  Chicka- 
mauga. 

Chickamauga  was  the  second  greatest  battle  of  the  entire 
war.  In  this  battle  the  per  cent,  of  the  lost  in  killed  and 
wounded  demonstrates  the  spirit  of  the  troops  engaged;  the 
fierceness  of  the  assaults  made;  the  repulses  suffered;  and 
withal  the  splendid  heroism  and  fortitude  with  which  both 
sides  contended  for  the  mastery  on  that  memorable  battle-field. 

In  his  "Memoirs"  General  Grant  tells  us  that  after  the  bat- 


72  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

tie  of  Shiloh  he  went  over  the  field,  and  it  was  beyond  question 
the  bloodiest  and  most  revolting  sight  he  had  ever  witnessed, 
for  there  he  saw  more  dead  than  on  any  other  battle-field  dur- 
ing the  war.  For,  of  the  36,000  men  engaged  on  the  Con- 
federate line  1728  were  killed  and  8012  were  wounded,  or 
twenty-nine  per  cent.  The  Federal  loss  was  twenty-seven  per 
cent.  This  percentage  of  killed  and  wounded  is  far  in  excess 
of  the  casualties  sustained  in  many  of  the  great  battles  of 
Europe,  and  greater  than  in  many  battles  of  our  own  war; 
but  not  so  great  as  in  Chickamauga.  At  Gettysburg  General 
Lee  fought  with  an  army  of  62,000,  and  sustained  a  loss  in 
killed  and  wounded  of  twenty-five  per  cent.,  exclusive  of  cav- 
alry. The  Federal  loss  was  twenty-two  per  cent.  At  the  battle 
of  Waterloo  Wellington  had  90,000  men  engaged,  and  lost  in 
killed  and  wounded  not  quite  12,000  of  them,  or  about  twelve 
per  cent.  Therefore  it  is  readily  seen  that  at  Chickamauga 
General  Bragg  fought  and  fairly  won  one  of  the  greatest  battles 
in  history;  certainly  the  next  most  important  battle  in  the  Civil 
War.  For  this  we  hail  him  with  "Well  done ;  nobly  fought  and 
nobly  won."  And  for  the  weight  of  his  great  responsibility 
at  this  crisis  we  sympathize  with  him,  but  for  his  vacillation 
and  irresolution  we  condemn  him. 

After  any  battle  it  is  easy  enough  to  make  what  may  be 
termed  a  "retrospective  prophecy"  (a  seeming  paradox)  of 
what  might  have  occurred  if  such  and  such  had  only  been  done. 
For  example:  After  First  Manassas  the  popular  outcry  was: 
"Why  did  they  not  go  right  on  to  Washington?"  it  was  even 
rumored  that  Stonewall  Jackson  insisted  that  he  be  allowed 
to  go  in  and  take  the  Federal  capital.  And  on  the  other  hand, 
after  Chancellorsville  the  criticism  was :  "Why  did  Lee  move 
on  to  Gettysburg  and  attempt  to  invade  the  North?"  But  cer- 
tainly there  can  be  no  question  but  that  after  the  battle  of  the 
20th  of  September,  1863,  General  Bragg  should  have  pressed 
his  advantage — pursued  and  taken  the  enemy  in  Chattanooga, 
before  re-enforcements  could  arrive.  On  the  morning  of  the 
2 1st  inst.  General  Forrest  was  on  the  Missionary  Ridge.     See- 


ELLISON  CAPERS  73 

ing  for  himself  the  confusion  and  disorder  of  the  retreating- 
army,  its  unanned  soldiers,  demoralized  stragglers,  stampeded 
cattle,  horseless  wagons  and  cannons  all  blockading  the  road, 
the  mass  moving  hither  and  thither  in  great  coniusion,  ana 
without  the  show  of  orderly  retreat,- — Forrest  asked  Bragg's 
permission  to  move  forward  and  continue  the  pursuit  01  ihe 
day  before.  He  made  the  famous  assertion  that,  "every  hour 
employed  in  such  an  advance  would  be  worth  a  thousand  men 
to  Bragg's  army." 

General  Bragg,  however,  had  no  military  vision.  He  was  a 
good  campaigner  and  fought  all  his  battles  well,  as  Shiloh, 
Murfreesboro,  Perry ville,  and  Chickamauga  all  testify.  He 
was  an  organizer,  a  disciplinarian ;  an  automatic,  methodical 
kind  of  a  man;  a  great  adjutant  and  inspector  general;  but 
he  was  not  equipped  to  meet  all  the  responsibilities  of  com- 
mander-in-chief. He  was  never  able  to  secure  the  fruits  of  vic- 
tory. He  seemed  to  feel  as  General  Early  did  after  he  had  won 
tile  battle  oi  Ceuar  CrecK,  V  a.  General  Gordon  and  others 
were  urging  him  to  press  his  advantage,  when  Early  replied : 
"Oh,  we  have  won  glory  enough  for  one  day."  Bragg  was  too 
easily  satisfied  with  an  incomplete  victory.  He  was  a  patriot, 
the  soul  of  personal  honor,  and  with  all  his  heart  he  loved 
and  believed  in  the  the  cause  for  which  he  fought ;  but  the 
imperative  need  at  that  particular  crisis  was  a  great  general, 
and  this  Bragg  was  not.  He  did  not  entertain  Forrest's  prop- 
osition, but  a  few  days  later  he  did  concur  in  General  Long- 
street's  suggestion,  and  sent  him  agamst  Burnside  in  east  ien- 
nessee.  After  his  arm)'-  had  gone  for  two  days'  march  Bragg 
brought  it  back  and  finally  sent  it  against  Knoxville.  but  just  as 
the  powerful  army  now  under  Grant  was  about  to  assail  his 
lines  on  Missionary  Ridge. 

Among  the  papers  of  Bishop  Capers  is  a  letter  from  the 
historian,  the  Count  of  Paris,  asking  an  explanation  of  Bragg's 
motive  in  dividing  his  army  in  this  manner  just  on  the  eve 
of  battle.  The  Bishop's  reply  has  unfortunately  been  mislaid. 
However,  we  may  venture  to  suggest  that  at  this  time  it  had 


74  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

possibly  become  necessary  to  keep  Burnside  from  moving  upon 
Bragg's  flank  and  rear  and  crushing  him  between  the  two 
Federal  armies  of  Grant  and  Burnside.  But  Bragg's  error  was 
in  alloiving  such  a  contingency  to  arise  by  not  adhering  to  his 
original  purpose  of  sending  Longstreet  to  defeat  Burnside 
immediately  after  Chickamauga  was  won.  Then  he  could  have 
united  forces  with  General  Bragg  for  the  battle  of  Missionary 
Ridge. 

To  return  to  Gist's  brigade.  In  the  movements  of  the  army 
following  Chickamauga,  and  in  defense  of  the  line  on  Mis- 
sionary Ridge,  this  brigade  bore  an  honorable  part. 

Owing  to  the  wound  Colonel  Capers  had  received  at  Chicka- 
mauga, he  was  sent  home  on  furlough.  He  always  referred  to 
this  battle  as  the  most  fiercely  contested  battle  he  was  ever  in. 
He  said  that  when  his  regiment  advanced, — the  Twenty-fourth 
South  Carolina,  which  General  Gist's  report  tells  us  was  the 
only  one  brought  immediately  against  the  enemy's  work, — the 
terrific  fire  of  shot  and  shell  beggared  description.  After  the 
"iron-nerved"  Stevens  was  down,  the  "intrepid"  Capers  led 
the  attack  upon  King's  works,  and  as  he  dashed  through  the 
troops  men  fell  on  every  side  of  him.  His  gallant  little  horse 
"Hardtimes"  rose  to  clear  an  obstructing  log,  and  received  a 
minie  ball  through  her  windpipe,  but  the  plucky  animal  pushed 
on.  Clarence  Palmer,  adjutant  to  the  regiment,  galloping  for- 
ward to  accompany  his  colonel,  accosted  him  with  the  remark, 
rather  jocularly  made :  "Gee  whiz,  Colonel,  but  aint  this 
hot!"  when  a  ball  crashed  into  his  brain  and  he  fell  sidewise 
into  his  Colonel's  arms.  Comrades  then  took  him  from  his 
horse,  and  he  was  borne  to  the  rear.  He  was  a  first  cousin  of 
Mrs.  Capers,  a  chivalrous,  noble-hearted  son  of  South  Caro- 
lina. In  less  than  ten  minutes  after  Adjutant  Palmer  fell 
Colonel  Capers  was  severely  wounded,  and  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Napier  of  the  Eighth  Georgia  assumed  command  of  the  bri- 
srade,  and  in  the  successful  assault  of  the  afternoon  led  it  with 
distinguished  gallantry. 


CHAPTER  \TII 


FROM    DALTON    TO   JONESBORO 


The  months  of  January,  February.  J\larch,  and  April,  1864, 
were  spent  by  the  Army  of  Tennessee  in  winter  quarters  at 
Dalton ;  and  there  the  work  of  reorganization,  drill,  and  thor- 
ough equipment  was  constantly  carried  on.  General  Bragg, 
having  voluntarily  resigned,  General  Joseph  E.  Johnston  was 
then  in  command,  and  his  presence  as  commander-in-chief  of 
the  Army  of  Tennessee  was  hailed  with  delight  and  enthusiasm 
Dy  the  entire  army.  While  in  winter  quarters,  and  during  a 
review  of  the  troops,  the  commanding  general's  attention  was 
called  by  General  Hardee  to  the  Twenty-fourth  South  Carolina 
Regiment,  which  he  designated  as  "one  of  the  best  regiments 
in  the  army."  General  Hardee  referred  in  the  most  compli- 
mentary terms  to  its  colonel  as  a  "fine  disciplinarian,  an  intrepid 
warrior,  and  greatly  beloved  by  officers  and  men."  He  there 
recommended  Colonel  Capers  for  promotion  to  the  next  vacant 
brigadier-generalship.  General  Johnston  promised  he  would 
forward  the  recommendation,  with  his  endorsement,  to  the 
War  Department.  General  Hardee  told  Colonel  Capers  of  this 
interview,  and  when,  at  the  battle  of  Franklin,  the  lamented 
Gist  fell  Colonel  Capers  was  promptly  promoted  brigadier- 
general.  Being  severely  wounded  in  that  battle,  he  did  not 
receive  his  commission  until  February,  1865. 

The  campaign  from  May  to  September  may  be  best  given 
by  summarizing  the  report  of  Colonel  Capers.  However, 
before  incorporating  this  report,  we  have  to  record  a  few  inci- 
dents of  interest  in  his  army  experience  in  this  comnaign.  The 
high  esteem  in  which  the  soldiers  held  their  colonel  is  seen  in 
the  following  incident. 

75 


76  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

"It  was  while  at  Dalton  the  valiant  soldier  suffered  a  sur- 
prise, and  the  episode  shows  General  Capers  in  a  light  that  is 
not  the  one  least  creditable  to  him.  This  brave  officer  was 
enthroned  in  the  hearts  of  his  men.  While  in  winter  quarters  in 
February,  1864,  he  was  one  evening  requested  by  General 
Stevens,  his  devoted  friend,  former  colonel,  and  organizer  of 
the  Twenty-fourth,  to  wait  a  moment  after  the  usual  dress 
parade  of  the  regiment.  Soon  a  splendid  charger,  with  mili- 
tary mounting,  was  led  out  and  presented  to  Colonel  Capers  as 
a  mark  of  the  lo\'e  and  esteem  of  his  command.  One 
acquainted  with  Ellison  Capers  can  imagine  with  what 
gratified  surprise  he  accepted  the  costly  gift,  and,  with 
what  appreciation  he  cherishes  to  this  day  the  memory  of  the 
spirit  that  inspired  the  gallant  donors."*  This  horse  proved  of 
the  greatest  possible  service,  and  the  generous  and  appreciative 
spirit  which  prompted  the  gift  was  always  one  of  General 
Capers'  most  inspiring  reminiscences  of  the  war.  But  no 
horse  ever  quite  filled  the  place  in  his  aft'ection  or  won  from 
him  the  admiration  that  the  plucky  little  sorrel  "Hardtimes" 
did. 

He  was  his  master's  constant  companion  through  the  war. 
This  horse  was  endowed  with  marvelous  endurance  and 
remarkable  intelligence,  and  seemed  to  rejoice  with  his  colonel 
in  the  excitement  of  battle.  They  were  both  severely  wounded 
at  the  battle  of  Chickamauga.  After  that  wound  through  his 
windpipe  "Hardtimes"  Avas  never  quite  the  same,  but  the 
game  manner  in  which  he  pressed  forward  in  spite  of  this  diffi- 
culty in  breathing  endeared  him  all  the  more  to  his  master. 
"Hardtimes"  survived  the  war,  and  was  tenderly  cared  for 
and  died  at  an  advanced  age,  "with  love,  honor,  and  troops  of 
friends." 

We  of  the  South,  having  an  adequate  appreciation  of  the 
praiseworthy  traits  in  the  negro's  character,  recall  with 
pleasure  and  gratitude  the  fidelity  with  which  many  of  the 
slaves  followed  their  masters  during  the  Civil  War  and  the 
devotion   often   exhibited   in  the  service  rendered  by   faith- 

*Thomas,  "History  of  the  S.  C.  M.  A." 


ELLISON  CAPERS  -j-j 

ful  servants  to  the  women  and  children  left  at  home  when 
the  men  of  the  family  were  at  the  front  fighting  their  country's 
battles.  But  we  also  realize,  what  many  fail  to  appreciate,  that 
\\  hile  such  evidences  of  devotion  argue  for  commendable  traits 
in  the  character  of  the  negro,  their  very  faithfulness  is  but 
a  reflex  of  the  patriarchal  care  and  affection  with  which  the 
best  interest  of  the  slave  in  the  Southern  States  were  guarded 
and  fostered  by  his  "marster"  and  "mistus."  It  is  not  human 
nature  to  offer  one's  life  or  to  render  a  devoted  service  for 
those  who  have  scourged  and  starved,  abused,  misused,  and 
enthralled,  you.  When  therefore  the  slave  was  faithful  to 
those  who  owned  him,  it  was  because  he  had  ample  reason  to 
feel  that  in  spite  of  the  color  of  his  skin  and  the  inferiority  of  his 
race  his  best  earthlv  friends  were  the  "old  marster"  whom  he 
had  served  from  childhood,  and  his  "mistus,"  who  had  had 
him.  or  members  of  his  family,  tenderly  and  sympathetically 
cared  for  and  nursed  through  sickness  and  regularly  and 
intelligently  instructed  in  his  duty  to  God  and  man.  Or  per- 
haps it  was  the  young  "marster"  whom,  as  a  baby,  he  had 
dandled  on  his  knee;  to  whose  boyhood  he,  "Uncle  Ned,"  had 
been  the  hero  of  many  a  delightful  story  of  adventure  and  upon 
whose  ardent  affection  he  now,  an  old  man.  reposed  in  perfect 
trust.  In  his  master's  broad  acres,  sleek  cattle,  blooded  horses, 
fine  dogs,  and  stately  mansion. — which  he  knew  as  the  "big 
house," — the  trusty  slave  felt  an  indefinable  but  real  sense 
of  partnership. 

With  the  Capers  and  Palmer  families,  as  with  the  majority 
of  the  higher  type  of  slave  owners,  the  negroes  were  regarded 
in  the  light  of  dependents  for  whom  the  masters  felt  a  moral 
responsibility.  They  were  not  dealt  with  merely  as  slaves, 
from  whom  were  to  be  extorted  "the  pound  of  flesh"  in  unre- 
quited toil.  It  was  a  principle  and  established  practice  that 
families  of  slaves  were  not  to  be  separated.  Husbands  and 
wives  were  kept  together,  and  their  children  were  never  sold 
from  them. 

A  fine  tyi:»e  of  the  ante-bellum  negro  was  "Ben,"  the  faithful 


78  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

body  servant  of  Colonel  Capers.  Ben  followed  the  Colonel's 
fortunes  throughout  the  war,  and  served  him  in  the  capacity 
of  cook.  At  that  time  he  was  about  forty  years  of  age,  and  a 
most  interesting  and  original  character,  as  well  as  an 
invaluable  servant  and  good  comrade  who  took  great  pride 
in  "da  service  ob  da  Colonel."  Ben  was  altogether  a  very 
"handy"  man  in  the  exigencies  of  camp  life,  and  in  the  regi- 
ment a  well-known  character  in  whom  all  the  men  took  an 
interest  and  for  whom  they  felt  a  personal  affection. 

Innumerable  anecdotes  are  related  of  Ben,  but  I  here  recall 
one  that  indicates  his  implicit  obedience  to  the  first  law  of 
nature, — that  is,  self-preservation, — and  his  Colonel's  sympa- 
thy for  and  interest  in  him.  The  anecdote  must  l^e  read  in  the 
light  of  army  discipline,  which  inevitably  separates  the  officer 
from  his  men,  still  more  so  from  his  servants.  It  was  during 
one  of  the  bitter  winter  months  of  1864,  when  the  army  was 
quartered  at  Dalton,  and  though  comfortably  quartered,  yet 
many  of  the  men  suffered  intensely  from  the  cold.  On  this 
particular  night  the  thermometer  had  fallen  to  about  zero. 
During  the  first  part  of  the  night  the  Colonel  was  uncom- 
fortably chilly  in  his  quarters.  However,  toward  the  "small 
hours"  of  the  morning  he  was  awakened  by  the  consciousness 
of  some  one  being  near  him,  and  was  then  startled  out 
of  his  semi- wakeful  state  by  uproarious  snoring  at  his 
side. 

He  turned  to  find  that  Ben  had  crawled  under  his  blanket 
with  him,  and  in  peaceful  slumbers  was  enjoying  all  the  com- 
forts of  the  officers'  quarters.  The  Colonel  remonstrated.  Ben 
presented  his  simple  defense :  "Eo  de  Lord,  Colonel,  this 
nigger  was  about  to  freeze,  and  could  not  'sist  the  temptation ; 
you  looked  like  you  was  sleeping  so  warm-like,  and  I  'spected 
to  crawl  out  afore  you  woke  up."  The  Colonel  said  he  did 
not  have  the  heart  to  put  the  darky  out.  so  divided  his  blankets 
with  him,  but  admonished  Ben  to  keep  to  his  own  side  of 
the  bunk. 

It  was  at  the  beginning  of  the  Dalton  campaign,  during  a 


ELLISON  CAPERS  79 

conversation  with  his  chief,  that  General  Johnston  asked 
Acting-Brigadier-General  Capers  if  he  had  studied  the  map 
which  had  been  issued  with  the  order  requiring  the  command- 
ing officers  to  study  the  ground  in  front  of  and  around  them. 
Receiving  an  affirmative  reply.  General  Johnston  then  remarked 
that  a  mountainous  country  is  bad  fighting  ground,  and  a 
mountain  line  a  bad  line  to  defend,  as  the  mountains  are  cur- 
tains behind  which  the  enemy  can  mass  his  troops  unseen,  and 
by  sudden  flank  movements  take  his  adversary  by  disadvantage. 
This  was  precisely  the  position  in  which  General  Johnston  was 
placed,  witn  Kocky  i^ace  Riclge  rismg  as  an  immense  curtain 
on  his  flanks.  His  army  was  retiring  every  w^eek.  but  in  retir- 
ing felt  the  General  was  doing  that  which  was  best,  and  was 
retiring  merely  to  find  a  better  position. 

In  the  campaign  from  Dalton  to  Atlanta  Gist's  brigade, 
together  with  other  troops,  was  for  seventy  days  in  the  face  of 
an  overwhelming  enemy.  Frequently  the  Twenty- fourth 
South  Carolina  Volunteers  were  selected  as  an  advanced 
skirmish  line  to  hold  in  check  a  flanking  movement,  while  the 
army  retired  in  orderly  retreat  and  prepared  to  take  up  a  new 
position  from  which  to  offer  battle. 

During  the  investment  of  Atlanta  Mrs.  Capers,  with  her 
three  year  old  son  and  infant  daughter,  was  at  Oxford,  just 
forty  miles  from  the  besieged  city.  Colonel  Capers,  learning 
from  General  Hardee  that  "Red  Jackson"  was  in  the  track  of 
Sherman's  raid,  took  advantage  of  the  time  when  our  army 
had  fallen  back  to  the  trenches  about  Atlanta,  to  obtain  leave 
for  a  few^  days  to  move  his  family,  if  possible,  to  South  Caro- 
lina. While  endeavoring  to  accomplish  this,  the  Colonel  and 
his  brave  wife  were  subjected  to  an  ordeal  that  put  to  the  test 
the  courage  and  wits  of  both,  and  though  cruelly  painful  and 
humiliating,  was  by  no  means  devoid  of  thrilling  excitement 
and  interest.  It  is  perhaps  best  told  in  the  words  of  Mrs. 
Capers,  who  relates  this  experience  in  her  contribution  to 
"South  Carolina's  AVomen  in  the  Confederacy."    After  nar- 


8o  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

rating  the  circumstances  which  brought  her  to  Oxford  at  that 
time,  and  recording  her  own  anxiety,  she  proceeds : 

"It  was  impossible  for  me  to  move  from  the  place  where  I 
was  living,  as  our  little  daughter  was  but  six  days  old.  On 
this  day  as  I  lay  in  bed  the  only  white  adult  in  the  house,  a 
lady  friend,  rushed  into  my  chamber  and  exclaimed :  'Mrs. 
Capers,  the  town  is  full  of  Yankees!'  The  famous  raiders 
were  indeed  upon  us.  I  had  no  one  with  me  but  my  nurse, 
Maria  Wall,  a  faithful  free  colored  woman  from  Charleston; 
two  young  servants,  my  little  boy,  and  baby.  Vivid  pictures 
of  the  cruelty  to  which  so  many  of  our  countrywomen  and 
their  children  had  been  subjected  rose  to  my  mind  and  agitated 
my  heart.  I  felt  almost  overcome.  One  thing  saved  me,  a 
powerful  sense  of  God's  omnipresence  and  an  almost  imme- 
diate remembrance  of  an  incident  I  had  read  in  the  wars  of 
Napoleon.  A  cottage  lay  right  in  the  path  of  his  conquering 
army,  the  inmates  of  which  consisted  of  an  aged  grandmother 
and  her  grandchildren.  Dreading  the  approach  of  Napoleon's 
army,  the  aged  Christian,  at  family  prayers  that  night,  had 
prayed  that  God  would  raise  up  a  wall  of  defense  for  them 
against  the  devastating  foe.  During  the  night  the  snow  fell 
heavily  and  drifted  before  the  winds  in  great  banks,  so  that 
the  cottage  was  literally  hidden  from  the  highway  by  a  w^all 
of  snow,  and  the  invader  passed  by. 

"This  incident  came  to  my  mind  with  such  force  that  I  felt 
strengthened  for  the  ordeal  that  was  before  me.  I  was  nerved 
to  think  what  I  had  best  do  to  save  tlie  huge  flag  of  my 
husband's  regiment,  which  hung  from  the  staff  in  one  corner 
of  our  chamber.  I  got  the  nurse  to  tear  it  from  the  staff, 
which  she  hid  under  the  house,  and  taking  the  flag  from  her 
hands  I  folded  it  up  and  wrapped  it  around  a  little  pillow, 
sewed  one  case  over  it  and  slipped  it  into  another  in  the  usual 
vvay,  and  put  the  little  pillow  under  my  baby's  head.  I  then 
concealed  about  my  person  some  pictures  and  little  articles 
I  valued.     The  nurse  saved  the  silver. 

"The   soldiers   soon   arrived   and,   entering  the   room,   the 


ELLISON  CAPERS  8i 

trunks  were  broken  open  and  robbed  of  everything  in  them. 
After  the  soldiers  had  left  the  house  the  Rev.  Walter  Branham, 
a  Methodist  minister,  proposed  that  I  should  be  brought  to  his 
house  for  safety,  and  accordingly  I  was  put  into  an  easy  chair 
and  carried  across  the  street,  Maria  bringing  the  baby  with 
her,  with  her  flag  pillow.  The  house  and  its  contents  were 
surrendered  to  General  Gerrards'  soldiers,  who  made  good  use 
of  their  opportunity,  breaking  every  trunk  and  drawer  open 
and  emptying  them  of  their  contents.  Alone  in  the  chamber 
with  my  baby,  too  weak  to  take  her  from  the  bed  on  which 
she  was,  and  with  my  heart  beating  at  fever  heat,  I  remem- 
bered my  little  boy  Frank,  and  wondered  where  he  was.  In 
the  haste  and  confusion  of  removal  he  had  escaped  from  my 
chamber  before  I  had  time  to  tell  him  to  remain.  He  was  only 
three  years  old,  and  he  might  be  trampled  by  the  horses  of  the 
soldiers  who  were  then  making  a  great  uproar  in  the  streets ; 
or  for  their  amusement  they  might  have  taken  him  up  for  a 
ride.  Too  weak  to  stir  and  fearing  the  worst,  I  resigned  my 
boy  to  God's  holy  keeping  and  tried  to  compose  my  anxious 
heart.  At  this  moment  the  door  opened,  my  little  son  came 
rushing  in.  his  face  beaming  with  intense  excitement,  and 
exclaimed :  'Mother,  you  know  Father  is  come !' 

"I  cannot  describe  my  feelings  at  this  announcement.  How 
could  he  escape  capture  or  death!  Every  man  capable  of  bear- 
ing arms  was  being  seized  and  resistance  was  death,  and  he 
must  be  the  only  Confederate  soldier  in  the  town!  These 
thoughts  revolved  in  hurried  succession  in  my  mind,  when  the 
door  opened  again  and  my  husband  entered  the  room,  kissed 
me  and  the  baby,  hastily  explaining  that  he  had  just  arrived. 
The  soldiers  had  cut  the  railroad  and  torn  up  the  track  for 
miles ;  but  the  troops  in  town  were  only  stragglers  from  Stone- 
man's  command.  Our  cavalry  were  after  them.  To  prevent 
capture  he  and  his  faithful  servant.  Ben,  had  left  the  cars  and 
had  walked  more  than  forty  miles  since  the  night  before,  and 
had  been  dodging  Yankees  all  night. 

"At  this  moment  we  were  warned  that  a  squad  of  cavalry- 


82  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

men  were  approaching  the  front  door,  and  in  another  moment 
my  husband  was  gone.  He  had  arranged  with  Ben  where  he 
would  be,  and  going  into  a  wood  back  of  the  house  he  passed 
the  night  there,  his  faithful  servant  taking  him  a  blanket  and 
something  to  eat. 

''After  four  days  of  intense  anxiety  Mr.  Capers — seeing  me 
and  the  children  for  a  few  moments  each  day  and  sleeping  each 
night  in  the  woods, — told  me  that  he  must  either  risk  my 
removal  or  return  to  his  regiment.  We  resolved  on  the  risk. 
Ben  was  commissioned  to  pick  up  an  old  broken  horse,  left 
by  the  raiders,  to  take  what  was  left  to  us  and  the  young 
servants  to  Madison,  and  to  wait  for  us  there.  Riding  nine 
miles  to  the  home  of  Mr.  Graves,  the  kind  old  gentleman  who 
had  loaned  us  his  carriage, — my  baby  being  only  ten  days 
old, — it  there  became  evident  that  I  could  not  go  on  to  Madi- 
son. The  delay  was  necessary  for  my  life,  but  it  made  me 
more  unhappy,  for  the  Federal  cavalry  was  reported  within  a 
few  miles  of  us.  They  actually  passed  by  that  night,  when  my 
husband  again  left  me  to  escape  capture,  and  again  I  was  in 
dread  of  the  presence  of  the  soldiers  in  my  chamber. 

"After  a  few  days  of  such  anxiety  of  mind  we  learned  that 
the  cars  were  now  coming  within  five  miles  of  us,  and  we 
determined  to  go  on,  for  Mr.  Capers  told  me  he  could  not 
remain  another  day.  The  retreating  raiders  had  stripped  the 
place  of  every  available  horse  and  mule  and  left  only  poor, 
jaded,  broken-down  creatures  in  their  places.  Selecting  a  part 
of  these,  Mr.  Capers  hitched  them  to  the  carriage  and  we  were 
again  on  the  road.  It  was  terribly  rough,  full  of  stumps,  and 
with  great  hills  to  climb.  A  thunder  and  rain  storm  coming 
up,  the  horses  refused  to  pull  up  a  steep  hill  and  the  carriage 
commenced  to  descend.  Mr.  Capers  jumped  down  and  held  it, 
and  after  working  to  no  purpose  with  the  horses,  he  took  us 
out  in  the  rain,  forced  the  horses  up  the  hill,  carried  me  up 
in  his  arms,  and  put  me  back  on  the  pallet  in  the  carriage.  We 
knew  that  all  this  was  running  a  fearful  risk  of  my  life,  but 
I  deliberately  chose  it  rather  than  be  left  in  a  country  which 


ELLISON  CAPERS  83 

my  husband  feared  would  be  over-run  by  the  Federal  cavalry. 
We  reached  the  railroad  just  in  time  to  get  aboard  the  train 
about  to  start  for  Augusta,  Ga. 

'At  Madison  we  took  up  Ben,  who  told  us  that  the  retreating 
raiders  had  robbed  him  of  his  money  and  all  he  had  to  eat; 
had  'swopped'  horses  with  him,  and  had  again  ransacked  our 
effects,  and  that  he  had  shipped  the  remains  on  to  Augusta. 
Arriving  at  Kalmia,  near  Akin,  very  early  next  morning,  my 
ever  kind  uncle  and  aunt,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Richard  Yeadon, 
were  waiting  to  greet  us.  I  was  made  as  comfortable  as  the 
tenderest  kindness  and  love  could  make  me.  and  at  three 
o'clock  I  bade  farewell  to  my  husband,  who  toolc  the  first  train 
back  to  Augusta  and  returned  to  his  regiment." 


CHAPTER  IX 

MILITARY  REPORTS 

Reports  of  Colonel  Ellison  Capers,  Twenty-fourth  South 
Carolina  Infantry,  Gist's  Brigade,  of  operations  May  6-July  i8 
and  September  i. 

No.  607 

Hdqrs.  Twenty-fourth  South  Carolina  Vols., 

JoNESBORO,  Ga.,  September  10.  1864. 
Major  : 

In  compliance  with  the  late  order  from  brigade  headquarters, 
I  have  the  honor  to  report  the  operations  of  the  Twenty- 
fourth  South  Carolina  Volunteers  during  the  campaign  from 
Dalton  to  Atlanta,  embraced  between  the  6th  of  May  and  the 
18th  of  July  last. 

By  the  organization  of  the  Army  of  Tennessee,  in  winter 
quarters  at  Dalton,  the  Twenty-fourth  South  Carolina  Vol- 
unteers was  attached  to  Gist's  brigade.  Walker's  division, 
Hardee's  corps.  The  brigade  was  composed  of  three  regiments 
and  a  battalion,  viz.,  the  Sixteenth  and  Twenty- fourth  South 
Carolina  Regiments,  the  Forty-sixth  Georgia,  and  the  Eighth 
Georgia  Battalion. 

During  the  winter  of  1863-64  we  were  comfortably  quar- 
tered in  huts  located  on  the  Spring  Race  Road,  about  two 
miles  east  of  Dalton.  The  drill  and  discipline  of  the  regiment 
were  carefully  observed,  especially  in  the  early  spring,  and 
when  the  campaign  opened  in  May  Gist's  brigade  was  in  fine 
condition  for  the  work  before  it,  and  no  part  of  it  in  better 
trim  than  the  Twenty-fourth. 

The  appearance  of  the  enemy  in  front  of  Tunnel  Hill  on  the 

84 


ELLISON  CAPERS  85 

5th  of  May  was  the  signal  for  breaking  up  our  encampment, 
and  on  the  6th  we  marched  out  of  winter  quarters.  Walker's 
division  marched  through  Dalton  into  Crow's  valley,  and  took 
position  in  support  of  troops  holding  Mill  Creek  Gap.  We 
were  bivouacked  in  line,  and  except  to  supply  details  for  picket 
duty  we  were  not  engaged  with  the  enemy  until  the  9th,  when 
Company  I  of  the  Twenty-fourth  became  involved  in  a  sharp 
skirmish,  under  the  following  circumstances  : 

The  pickets  of  the  Sixty-third  Georgia.  Mercer's  brigade, 
being  pressed  back  in  our  front,  the  General  directed  me  to 
send  forward  a  company  to  their  support.  I  detailed  Company 
I  for  the  duty.  Captain  Wever,  though  quite  sick  and  very 
lame,  led  his  company  gallantly  against  the  enemy's  picket  line, 
and  drove  it  back,  regaining  the  ground  lost.  Lieutenant  Till- 
man was  slightly  wounded,  two  of  the  company  killed,  and  six 
others  more  or  less  severely  wounded  in  this  affair.  About 
nine  o'clock  I  withdrew  Company  I  from  the  front,  and  at 
ten  o'clock  the  Twenty-fourth  marched  with  the  brigade 
through  Dalton  on  the  Resaca  road.  The  march  was  con- 
tinued rapidly  all  night,  the  brigade  having  arrived  near  Resaca 
about  eight  o'clock  on  the  loth.  A  force  of  the  enemy,  since 
known  to  have  been  McPherson's  corps,  had  marched  past  the 
left  of  our  position  at  Dalton.  and  taken  possession  of  Snake 
Creek  Gap,  opposite  Resaca,  and  some  miles  distant  from  that 
place. 

On  the  day  of  the  loth,  and  during  that  night,  the  regiment, 
with  the  brigade,  was  held  constantly  in  readiness  to  move  to 
the  support  of  the  troops  opposing  the  enemy  in  Snake  Creek 
Gap,  but  w^e  did  not  leave  our  bivouac  until  early  on  the  morn- 
ing of  the  nth,  when  we  crossed  the  Oostenaula  and  marched 
to  a  point  on  the  railroad  halfway  between  Resaca  and 
Calhoun.  It  was  understood  that  a  force  had  marched  down 
the  west  side  of  the  Oostenaula,  and  that  this  force  might  cross 
the  river  and  readily  reach  the  railroad  at  Calhoun.  The 
Twenty-fourth  was  encamped  on  the  railroad  opposite  Gi- 
deon's Ford  and  within  a  half  a  mile  of  the  river.  On  the  14th 


86  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

the  enemy  was  reported  crossing  in  force  at  McGinnis'  Ferry, 
which  is  about  a  mile  below  Gideon's  Ford.  The  Sixteenth  South 
Carolina  Volunteers  were  in  front  of  McGinnis'  Ferry,  on  the 
road  leading  from  the  ferry  to  Calhoun,  the  distance  from  the 
ferry  to  the  town  being  a  short  mile.  The  General  ordered  the 
Twenty-fourth  to  march  rapidly  to  the  support  of  the  Six- 
teenth, which  order  was  promptly  obeyed. 

Arriving  near  the  ferry,  after  a  rapid  march  of  about  three 
miles,  we  found  the  Sixteenth  retiring  slowly  before  the  force 
of  the  enemy,  which  had  crossed.  Colonel  McCullough,  com- 
manding the  Sixteenth,  reported  to  me  a  strong  force  in  his 
front,  with  artillery.  After  conferring  further  with  him,  I 
deemed  it  best  to  move  at  once  against  the  force,  which  was 
then  advancing  into  a  wood  in  our  front.  Deploying  and 
moving  up  to  the  Sixteenth,  which  had  meanwhile  halted  and 
was  firing  into  the  woods,  I  ordered  a  charge  in  concert  with 
the  Sixteenth.  We  easily  drove  the  enemy  back  to  the  river, 
under  cover  of  his  artillery,  which  was  posted  on  the  hill  on 
the  west  side,  and  under  its  fire  the  enemy  recrossed  in  our 
sight.  Not  a  man  was  hit  in  the  Twenty-fourth,  though  there 
were  some  casualties  in  the  Sixteenth.  I  have  no  idea  of  the 
enemy's  loss,  though  I  am  satisfied  our  fire  galled  him  at  the 
river. 

After  this  affair  the  Twenty-fourth  returned  to  its  position 
opposite  Gideon's  Ford,  and  remained  on  duty  there,  watching 
the  river,  until  the  afternoon  of  the  next  day,  the  15th,  when 
the  brigade  was  ordered  back  to  Resaca  to  re-enforce  the 
center  of  General  Johnston's  line.  The  roar  of  battle  at 
Resaca  urged  our  march,  and  the  men  moved  with  alacrity  to 
the  duty  assigned  them.  Arriving  at  the  pontoon  over  the 
Oostenaula.  at  Resaca,  we  found  it  under  fire  of  the  enemy's 
artillery  posted  on  an  eminence  immediately  opposite  the  ex- 
treme left  of  our  semicircular  line,  the  brigade  being  in  rear  of 
the  center  of  the  line.  Gist's  brigade  was  in  advance  of 
Walker's  division,  the  Twenty-fourth  leading.  We  were  the 
first  to  pass  the  bridge.   Officers  and  men  behaved  with  steady 


ELLISON  CAPERS  87 

courage,  and  not  a  man  in  the  regiment  was  hurt  while  cross- 
ing, and  only  seven  were  wounded  in  the  other  commands  of 
the  brigade.  We  moved  up  to  the  rear  of  our  center.  Walker's 
division  being  put  in  line  immediately  in  rear  of  Cheatham's. 
Here  we  remained  for  the  rest  of  the  day  under  fire  and  in 
reserve.     No  casualties. 

About  eleven  o'clock  at  night  the  army  left  Resaca,  and  our 
division  recrossed  the  Oostenaula,  marching  back  through 
Calhoun  to  a  point  south  of  Oothkaloga  Creek,  on  the  Rome 
road.  The  Oothkaloga  flows  west  and  empties  into  the  Ooste- 
naula near  Tanner's  Ferry  (called  also  Lay's  Ferry),  about 
two  miles  from  Calhoun,  southwest.  Hardee's  corps  went 
into  bivouac  early  on  the  i6th  on  the  Rome  road,  with  the 
right  on  the  Oothkaloga,  the  line  facing  west  and  covering 
advances  from  Tanner's  and  McGinnis'  ferries.  The  enemy 
had  crossed  in  force  at  Tanner's  Ferry,  and  our  pickets  had 
been  driven  back  until  the  line  of  bivouac  was  under  artillery 
fire.  About  two  o'clock  General  Hardee  ordered  General 
Walker  to  drive  the  enemy's  advance  back  by  re-enforcing  his 
pickets.  The  Twenty- fourth  South  Carolina  Volunteers  and 
the  First  Battalion  Georgia  Sharpshooters,  Major  Shaaff, 
were  detailed  for  this  duty,  and  I  was  charged  by  General 
Gist  with  its  execution.  I  placed  Major  Shaaff  on  the  left  of 
the  Twenty-fourth  and  directed  him  to  move  by  his  left  flank 
perpendicularly  to  my  line,  covered  by  a  wood,  and  beyond  it 
by  a  hedgerow,  and  arriving  beyond  the  right  of  the  enemy 
and  his  rear  to  halt,  face  to  his  right,  and  wait  until  I  moved 
forward. 

As  soon  as  the  Twenty- fourth  had  advanced  near  enough  to 
begin  the  charge  I  directed  Shaaft  to  charge  with  a  yell, 
coming  up  on  the  right  rear  of  the  enemy  while  I  assaulted 
him  in  front.  As  soon  as  the  sharpshooters  got  into  the 
position  described  above,  I  ordered  the  Twenty-fourth  forward 
immediately  on  the  enemy's  line  in  full  view,  on  the  elevated 
ground  in  front.  The  regiment  marched  out  into  the  open 
field  as  if  on  parade,  and.  coming  under  the  fire  of  the  force 


88  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

before  us,  I  rode  forward  and  ordered  the  charge.  At  the 
same  moment,  ahnost.  Major  Shaaff's  battahon  gave  a  shout 
and  came  out  into  the  field  to  the  rear  and  right  of  our  foe. 
Both  commands  behaved  in  the  most  admirable  order,  and  the 
enemy,  after  firing  wildly  over  us,  broke  into  a  precipitous 
retreat,  the  battery  narrowly  escaping  capture.  We  took  a  few 
prisoners,  the  knapsacks  of  the  cannoneers  and  freed  our  line 
of  the  annoyance  to  which  it  had  been  subjected  by  the  prox- 
imity of  this  force.  I  re-established  the  pickets,  and  while  en- 
gaged in  so  doing  received  the  general's  order  to  bring  the 
Twenty-fourth  and  the  sharpshooters  back  to  our  bivouac. 

We  lost  nine  killed,  thirty  wounded,  and  two  missing  in  the 
Twenty-fourth.  I  have  no  record  of  Major  Shaaff's  loss,  and 
have  no  report  to  make  of  the  enemy's  loss  but  the  estimate 
hastily  formed  on  the  field.  I  think  the  number  of  prisoners 
was  about  twenty,  and  from  their  reports  and  from  what  I  saw 
on  the  field  I  estimated  the  enemy's  loss  at  two  to  our  one. 
Major  Hill  of  the  Twenty-fourth  being  on  picket  duty,  Captain 
T.  C.  Morgan,  Company  K,  acted  as  major  of  the  Twenty- 
fourth,  and  was  severely  wounded  in  the  charge.  Sergeant- 
Major  J.  B.  Dotterer  was  also  severely  wounded  in  the  chest. 
I  had  the  honor  to  receive  the  personal  thanks  of  the  lieutenant- 
general  and  to  extend  his  compliments  to  Major  Shaaff. 

On  the  17th  of  May  our  corps  marched  toward  Adairs- 
ville  and  bivouacked  near  that  place.  On  the  i8th  the  march 
was  resumed  through  Kingston  toward  Cassville,  going  into 
bivouac  two  miles  from  the  latter  place.  Early  on  the  19th 
the  corps  was  formed  in  two  lines  of  battle,  and  the  command- 
ing general  published  an  order  of  battle.  The  greatest  enthu- 
siasm prevailed  in  our  ranks  as  the  men  and  officers  saw  the 
army  formed  for  battle.  Hardee's  corps  was  on  the  left  of  the 
general  line.  Walker's  division  in  the  center  of  the  corps,  and 
Gist's  brigade  on  the  left  of  the  division,  the  Twenty-fourth 
South  Carolina  and  Forty-sixth  Georgia  were  in  the  front,  and 
Sixteenth  South  Carolina  and  Eighth  Georgia  Battalion  in 


ELLISON  CAPERS 


89 


the  rear  line  of  the  brigade.  The  general  line  ran  about  east 
and  west,  and  our  position  was  in  an  open  field  west  of  the  rail- 
road, the  ground  siopnig  aown  m  uur  Iront  for  a  quarter  of 
a  mile  and  then  gradually  rising  to  the  crest  on  which  the 
enemy  was  slowly  forming.  It  was  about  two  o'clock  before  he 
developed  his  force,  and  we  moved  forward.  After  advancing 
to  the  foot  of  the  slope  our  lines  were  halted,  the  enemy  being 
in  full  view  about  three  quarters  of  a  mile  away,  and  apparently 
in  some  confusion  in  taking  up  his  positions.  Our  detention 
soon  became  very  irksome,  and  the  reason  for  it  wholly  un- 
accountable. We  must  have  been  in  this  position  half  an  hour 
when  General  Gist  in  person  gave  me  the  hour  from  his  watch, 
and  ordered  me  to  retire  the  front  line  precisely  at  four  o'clock. 
At  that  moment  the  entire  corps  faced  by  the  rear  rank  and 
moved  in  beautiful  order  to  the  rear,  the  enemy  not  firing  a 
shot  at  us.  We  marched  back  a  mile  and  intrenched  our  posi- 
tion, expecting  an  attack  every  hour.  About  one  o'clock  on  the 
morning  of  the  20th,  while  sleeping  on  our  arms,  we  were  sur- 
prised with  an  order  to  march,  and  very  soon  thereafter  the 
command  was  crossing  the  Etowah  in  our  rear.  We  went  into 
bivouac  on  the  Altoona  road  about  two  miles  from  the  river. 
Here  we  rested  until  the  24th,  when  our  division  marched 
toward  Dallas,  camping  near  that  place.  On  the  25th  we 
moved  back  on  the  Altoona  road  to  New  Hope  Church,  and 
took  position  in  rear  and  in  support  of  General  Stewart's 
division  of  Hood's  corps.  Late  in  the  afternoon  Hooker's 
corps  attacked  General  Stewart,  and  a  severe  conflict  followed 
until  after  dark.  We  were  not  engaged,  though  we  had  one 
officer  and  five  men  wounded. 

On  the  1st  of  June  our  division  was  moved  to  the  left  of 
the  general  line,  and  took  up  a  position  in  support  of  General 
Bate's  division  before  Dallas.  On  the  night  of  the  4th  we 
again  changed  our  position,  marching  on  the  Lost  Mountain 
road  to  the  neighborhood  of  Gilgal  Church.  Here  we  were  in 
bivouac  several  days,  and  the  men  were  greatly  refreshed  by 


90  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

the  rest.  On  the  9th  of  June  the  corps  formed  a  Hne  of  battle 
in  rear  of  Pine  Mountain,  General  Bate's  division  being  in 
position  on  the  mountain. 

On  the  15th  and  i6th  the  line  of  battle  was  again 
changed,  the  enemy  not  being  in  view,  and  on  the  19th  Walker's 
division  was  put  in  position  south  and  west  of  Kenesaw 
Mountain,  in  front  of  Marietta.  We  formed  the  right  of 
Hardee's  corps,  French's  division  of  Polk's  corps  being  on 
our  right  and  on  the  mountain.  The  Twenty- fourth  touched 
the  left  of  French's  division  and  occupied  Hardee's  extieme 
right.  The  line  was  strongly  intrenched  with  head  logs  on 
the  work  and  obstructions  in  front. 

The  enemy  appeared  in  force  on  the  20th,  and  pressed  up 
against  our  pickets.  The  fighting  on  the  picket  line  was  severe 
all  day,  Company  I  being  the  only  company  of  the  Twenty- 
fourth  engaged.  The  enemy  established  his  line  of  battle  about 
three  hundred  yards  in  our  front,  and  his  fire,  both  of  small 
arms  and  of  artillery,  was  so  constant  and  severe  that  the  men 
had  to  keep  close  behind  the  work  and  constantly  on  the  watch. 
Major  O'Neill,  the  gallant  commander  of  our  brigade  pickets, 
and  the  Major  of  the  Sixteenth  (South  Carolina)  was  killed 
while  maintaining  the  integrity  of  our  picket  line.  The  weather 
was  very  bad,  and  the  position  of  the  troops  behind  his  works 
most  uncomfortable.  On  the  24th  the  enemy  in  our  front 
attempted  to  drive  in  the  picket  line  of  battle,  but  by  the  Gen- 
eral's order  I  moved  my  regiment  forward  and  deployed  it  so 
as  to  cover  the  whole  brigade  front,  and  we  repelled  the  as- 
saults and  maintained  the  line.  The  fighting  was  incessant,  and 
the  men  got  but  little  rest.  In  the  fighting  of  the  24th  we  cap- 
tured a  sharpshooter  who  had  a  small  looking-glass  attached 
to  the  butt  of  his  musket,  so  that  he  could  sit  behind  the  breast- 
w^ork,  perfectly  protected,  with  his  back  to  us,  and  by  looking 
into  his  glass  sight  along  the  barrel  of  his  piece. 

On  the  27th  of  June,  early  in  the  morning,  the  enemy  began 
a  general  shelling  of  our  line.  About  9:30  o'clock  he  moved 
gallantly   forward  to   a   general   assault.      Our  pickets   were 


ELLISON  CAPERS  91 

driven  in,  and  the  enemy  came  on  to  the  assault  of  our  position. 
The  steady  fire  of  our  line,  and  the  raking  artillery  fire  which 
General  French  sent  down  our  front  from  his  batteries  upon 
our  right,  repelled  every  charge,  and  finally  drove  the  enemy 
back  to  his  fortifications.  But  he  succeeded  by  dark  in  fixing 
his  line  of  battle  within  one  hundred  yards  of  our  position, 
and  poured  in  a  galling  fire  of  musketry.  We  could  have  no 
pickets,  and  the  men  were  constantly  firing  and  watching. 
For  one  week  we  held  our  position  under  this  fire,  and  on  the 
night  of  the  2d  of  July,  after  thirteen  days  of  unceasing  exer- 
tion, fighting,  and  watching,  we  retired,  the  Twenty-fourth 
having  lost  one  officer  and  nine  men  killed,  four  ofificers  and 
twenty-seven  men  wounded,  and  sixteen  men  captured ;  total 
loss  at  Kenesaw  fifty-seven. 

Our  next  position  was  taken  near  Smyrna  Church,  about 
five  miles  south  of  Marietta.  The  enemy  pressed  forward 
and  annoyed  us  on  the  3rd  by  artillery  fire  while  we  were 
intrenching  our  position.  One  man  was  killed  and  one  wounded 
by  this  fire.  On  the  4th  of  July  we  were  under  a  constant  fire 
of  artillery,  but  the  enemy's  line  of  battle  did  not  come  nearer 
than  a  mile  from  our  position.  On  the  night  of  the  4th  we 
again  retired  from  the  position  we  had  strongly  fortified,  and 
marched  on  the  Atlanta  road  to  a  position  some  five  miles  to 
our  rear.  Except  to  furnish  a  detail  for  picket  duty  the 
Twenty-fourth  was  not  called  on  for  service  in  this  position, 
and  remained  in  bivouac  until  the  9th  of  July,  when  the  regi- 
ment marched  with  the  army  and  crossed  the  Chattahoochee 
River  near  the  railroad  bridge.  The  corps  went  into  bivouac 
in  line  about  two  miles  from  the  river,  sending  out  details  for 
picket  duty  at  the  river.  We  lost  three  men  on  the  river, 
wounded  by  the  enemy  from  the  opposite  side. 

On  the  17th  of  July  the  commanding  general  published  an 
address  to  the  army,  and  announced  that  he  would  attack  Gen- 
eral Sherman's  army  as  soon  as  it  should  cross  the  Chatta- 
hoochee River.  It  was  understood  that  the  enemy  was  crossing 
at  Roswell  Factory,  beyond  the  right  flank  of  the  army  and 


92  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

east  of  Peach  Tree  Creek,  which  empties  into  the  Chattahoo- 
chee a  mile  or  two  east  of  the  railroad  bridge.  I  had  the  honor 
to  read  the  commanding  General's  address  to  the  brigade,  and 
to  congratulate  the  command  upon  the  prospect  of  successful 
battle.  The  order  was  received  with  enthusiasm,  and  the  most 
confident  spirit  prevailed.  Next  day,  the  i8th,  while  we  were 
forming  to  march  from  our  bivouac  to  the  right,  a  rumor  pre- 
vailed that  General  Johnston  had  been  removed  from  com- 
mand, and  after  we  had  marched  some  distance  on  the  road 
to  Atlanta  a  courier  handed  me  a  circular  order  from  General 
Hood  announcing  General  Johnston's  removal,  and  his  assum- 
ing command.  Shortly  after,  the  farewell  address  of  General 
Johnston  was  received  and  read  to  the  regiment.  It  is  due  to 
truth  to  say  that  the  reception  of  these  orders  produced  the 
most  despondent  feelings  in  my  command.  The  loss  of  the 
commanding  general  was  felt  to  be  irreparable. 

Continuing  the  march  and  passing  the  General's  headquar- 
ters, Walker's  division  passed  at  the  shoulder,  the  officers  salut- 
ing, and  most  of  the  latter  and  hundreds  of  the  men  taking  off 
their  hats.  It  had  been  proposed  to  halt  and  cheer,  but  Gen- 
eral Johnston  hearing  our  intention  requested  that  the  troops 
march  by  in  silence.  We  marched  across  the  railroad  and 
went  into  bivouac  east  of  the  Peach  Tree  road,  some  three 
miles  from  Atlanta.  And  thus  closed  the  campaign  under 
General  Johnston's  command. 

From  May  6  to  July  19  inclusive  the  Twenty- fourth  had 
been  constantly  on  duty.  During  this  period  we  had  been 
continually  in  the  presence  of  the  enemy — fighting,  on  picket, 
in  the  breastworks,  or  covering  the  brigade  in  retreat. 

The  month  of  June  was  characterized  by  incessant  rain,  and 
the  marching  and  work  in  the  mud  were  most  distressing  to  the 
men  and  officers.  Our  bivouacs  were  always  in  line  of  battle, 
often  in  the  trenches,  and  we  seldom  got  a  night's  rest.  At 
Kenesaw  Mountain,  particularly,  we  got  but  little  rest,  and  for 
the  last  five  days  none  at  all.     But  the  pluck  and  spirit  of  the 


ELLISON  CAPERS  93 

regiment  never  failed,  and  I  am  happy  to  report  that  not  a 
single  man  deserted  his  colors  during  this  trying  ordeal. 

The  field  and  staff  officers  of  the  Twenty- fourth  have  been 
active,  and  most  efficient  in  their  duties,  and  given  me  every 
assistance  in  their  power. 

Hdqrs.  Twenty-fourth  Regiment  South  Carolina  Vols. 

JoNESBORO,  Ga.,  September  12th,  1864. 
Major: 

I  submit  herewith  a  report  of  the  part  borne  by  my  regiment 
in  the  recent  engagement  in  front  of  Jonesboro  on  the  after- 
noon of  the  1st  inst. 

The  brigade,  having  been  ordered  from  the  left  of  the  corps 
at  I  r.  M.  to  the  extreme  right,  was  placed  in  position  by  the 
Lieutenant-General  in  person  on  the  right  and  east  of  the  rail- 
road, the  left  resting  on  the  railroad  cut.  which  at  that  point 
was  some  eight  or  ten  feet  deep,  the  formation  of  the  brigade 
being  in  one  rank.  Our  line  ran  through  a  thick  undergrowth 
and  wood  near  the  railroad,  and  was  entirely  without  fortifi- 
cation. 

The  Second  Battalion  Georgia  Sharpshooters,  Major  White- 
ley,  occupied  the  left  of  the  brigade,  resting  in  the  rail- 
road cut.  and  the  Twenty- fourth  came  next,  the  Sixteenth 
South  Carolina  next,  and  the  Forty-sixth  Georgia  on  the  right. 
Lieutenant-General  Hardee  directed  me  to  make  my  position 
as  strong  as  possible,  and  told  me  that  he  relied  upon  our 
brigade  to  hold  the  right  of  his  line.  The  men  climbed  up  the 
small  trees,  bent  them  over,  and  using  pocket  knives  to  cut 
across  the  trunks,  succeeded  in  half  an  hour  in  making  a  first 
rate  abatis  of  little  trees,  interlaced  thickly  and  held  by  half 
their  thickness  to  the  stumps.  Along  my  line  I  brought  up 
rails  and  logs  from  the  rear  and  made  a  tolerable  breastwork. 
As  we  were  bent  back  to  cover  the  right  of  the  corps  the  direc- 
tion of  my  line  exposed  us  to  an  enfilade  from  the  other  side 
of  the  railroad  cut,  and  to  protect  my  companies  against  this 


94  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

I  built  traverses  of  logs  on  the  left  of  my  companies.  These 
proved  our  salvation. 

Rapid  firing  began  in  my  front  about  four  o'clock,  and  in 
half  an  hour  my  skirmishers  came  in,  closely  followed  by  the 
assaulting  line  of  the  enemy.  The  assault  seemed  directed 
mainly  against  the  positions  on  the  right  and  left  of  the  rail- 
road, and  reached  only  to  the  center  of  the  Twenty- fourth. 
It  was  handsomely  repulsed.  Major  D.  F.  Hill  directing  the 
fire  of  the  companies  on  the  left  with  splendid  effect. 

Again  at  5  130  the  enemy  moved  forward  along  the  entire 
front  of  the  Twenty-fourth.  I  fired  by  rank  and  rapidly  the 
movement  was  checked ;  but  on  the  west  side  of  the  railroad 
the  firing  was  heavy  and  the  fighting  continuous,  and  I  soon 
saw  that  the  position  on  that  side  had  been  carried,  the  enemy 
occupying  the  works.  Unfortunately  the  battalion  of  sharp- 
shooters was  retired  just  at  this  moment  without  orders  from 
the  brigade  headquarters,  and  the  enemy  promptly  moved  up 
our  side  and  occupied  Whiteley's  works,  firing  wildly  over  my 
left,  now  protected  by  my  traverses.  During  this  fire  Hill  was 
killed,  and  many  of  our  men  wounded.  An  assault  being  made 
from  the  front.  Companies  B  (Lieutenant  Easterling),  G 
(Lieutenant  Beckham),  and  K  (Lieutenant  Seigler)  were 
driven  from  my  left  after  a  gallant  stand.  Beckham  being 
nearest  me,  I  ordered  him  to  rally  his  company  at  once  and 
retake  his  place  before  it  would  be  too  late.  He  responded 
with  his  usual  gallantry,  and  assisted  by  yourself  and  my 
adjutant.  Lieutenant  Holmes,  I  rallied  my  men,  and  we  lOok 
our  position,  occupying  the  traverses  on  the  left.  For  the 
gallant  assistance  offered  by  yourself  and  by  Lieutenants 
Holmes.  Beckham,  and  Easterling  in  effecting  this  I  feel  myself 
greatly  indebted. 

Seeing  the  urgent  necessity  for  driving  the  enemy  from  the 
position  of  the  sharpshooters,  which  brough  them  right  on  us. 
Major  Smith  and  Lieutenants  Beckham  and  Easterling 
charged  them  with  Companies  B  and  G,  and  after  a  close  fight 


ELLISON  CAPERS  95 

drove  them  entirely  out  of  our  works.  Meanwhile  Major 
Whiteley  brought  up  his  battalion  and  reoccupied  his  position 
in  the  railroad  cut.  Companies  B,  G,  and  K  now  resumed  their 
place  in  line,  and  the  firing  lulled,  the  enemy  in  my  front  retir- 
ing to  the  bottom  of  the  hill.  While  we  were  fighting  on  the 
left  Lieutenant-Colonel  Jones  directed  the  firing  of  the  center 
and  right  of  the  Twenty- fourth  and  repulsed  every  assault  of 
the  enemy.  It  is  to  be  noted  that  the  assault  did  not  reach  the 
two  regiments  to  the  right  of  mine,  and  that  the  heaviest  attack 
was  on  my  left  at  the  railroad. 

The  firing  of  the  enemy  for  the  most  part  was  wild  and 
entirely  over  us.  I  attribute  this  to  the  confusion  in  his 
advance  and  attack  caused  by  our  abatis,  for  there  was  no  lack 
of  spirit  in  his  assaults.  Our  small  loss  in  killed  and  wounded 
is  attributed  to  this  wild  firing  on  the  enemy's  part.  From 
our  prisoners  we  learned  that  the  troops  assaulting  us  belonged 
to  General  Jefl'.  C.  Davis'  Division.  I  have  counted  over  two 
hundred  graves  in  our  front,  most  of  them  marked.  The  battle 
began  about  4:30  p.  m.  and  lasted  until  dark.  At  midnight  the 
Lieutenant-General  in  person,  with  his  staff,  rode  up  to  our 
position  and  did  me  the  honor  to  return  his  thanks  for  our 
conduct,  and  gave  directions  for  our  retirement.  In  half  an 
hour  after,  by  the  order  of  the  colonel  commanding  the 
brigade,  the  Twenty-fourth  marched  out  from  our  position 
and,  in  advance  of  the  brigade,  reached  Love  joy's  by  daylight, 
and  went  at  once  to  work  on  the  new  line  formed  there. 

In  the  action  at  Jonesboro  the  regiment  sustained  an  irrep- 
arable loss  in  the  death  of  Major  D.  F.  Hill.  He  fell  while 
endeavoring  to  arrest  the  retirement  of  the  sharpshooters  on 
my  left — shot  through  the  heart  by  one  of  the  enemy  from 
behind  our  own  works.  A  cool,  brave  man,  and  a  good  soldier, 
Major  Hill's  loss  is  deplored  by  every  man  and  officer  of  his 
regiment. 

I  beg  to  note  especially  the  gallant  conduct  of  Major  B.  B. 
Smith,  assistant-adjutant  general;  of  my  adjutant,  Lieutenant 


96  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

Holmes,  and  Lieutenants  Easterling,  Beckham,  and  Seigler, 
who  gave  me  every  assistance,  and  in  the  most  handsome  man- 
ner rallied  and  led  the  men  in  our  hard  fight  to  retake  the 
position  we  first  lost,  and  that  given  up  by  the  Second  Battalion 
Georgia  Sharpshooters. 

With  the  greatest  satisfaction  I  report  the  conduct  of  the 
officers  and  soldiers  of  the  Twenty-fourth  South  Carolina 
Volunteers  in  the  engagement  as  meriting  the  highest  approval. 

Respectfully  submitted, 

Ellison  Capers, 
Colonel  Tiveiity-fourth  South  Carolina  Vols. 

During  the  campaign  described  in  the  foregoing  reports.  Col- 
onel Capers  received  every  evidence  of  the  confidence  and  love 
of  his  soldiers,  and  he  was  also  encouraged  by  the  repeated 
assurances  of  appreciation  given  him  by  his  superior  officers. 
In  the  many  engagements  between  Dalton  and  Atlanta  Colonel 
Capers  commanded  skirmishes  almost  assuming  the  magnitude 
of  pitched  battles,  as  at  Calhoun,  Tanner's  Ferry,  Resaca,  New- 
Hope  Church,  and  Kenesaw  Mountain ;  while  in  the  battles 
around  Atlanta  and  at  Jonesboro  he  commanded  a  brigade. 
For  services  rendered  in  these  engagements  he  received  the 
thanks  of  his  commanding  officers,  as  well  as  the  praise  of  his 
men.  The  following  excerpts  are  from  letters  written  from 
the  front  to  the  "home-folks." 


Line  of  Battle,  near  Dalton,  Ga. 
About  twelve  o'clock  that  night  we  moved  off,  and  rejomed 
our  regiment  below  Dalton.  We  have  been  moving  from  one 
point  to  another  ever  since.  Walker's  division  is  first  in  the 
front  line,  then  with  the  reserved.  Out  of  the  twenty-four 
days  and  nights  it  has  rested  about  six.  Men  can  frequently 
be  seen  asleep  and  marching  at  a  rapid  pace.  The  Twenty- 
fourth  South  Carolina  Volunteers  was  selected  by  General 
Hardee  and  General  Walker  to  feel  for  the  enemy's  position 
near  Calhoun  on  the  i6th.     We  attacked  them  about  3  p.  m., 


ELLISON  CAPERS  97 

drove  in  their  skirmishers,  heavily  supported,  and  advanced 
nearly  a  mile.  In  this  affair  the  whole  regiment  acted  gallantly. 
Capers  and  his  regiment  have  won  compliments  from  all,  and 
I  may  add  that  our  company  did  better  than  I  ever  saw  men  do 
before.  (Signed)     J.  H.  Tillman. 

My  Dear  Ell  : 

Odd.  so  we  call  the  dear  boy  who  is  gone,  who  sleeps  at 
Manassas  with  a  surgeon's  certificate  in  his  pocket,  that  might 
have  spared  him  to  us ;  remembering  my  bright,  noble,  beauti- 
ful captain,  my  gallant,  true,  "aide-de-camp,"  the  circum- 
stances under  which  he  wired  me,  and  my  letter  to  ; 

I  cannot  forgive that  he  died.     should  have 

made  him  his  aide  by  all  the  memories  of  the  Citadel.  Oh, 
how  often  in  this  life  I  have  found  it  that  my  heart  looked 
for  responses.  None  came.  Thank  God  that  blood  is  thicker 
than  water.  After  waiting  with  a  note  of  Joe  Brown's  in 
my  pocket  for  a  boy  from  your  General  Polk  (who  would 
have  been  glad  to  see  me  ofificially)  waiting  at  Resaca  for  Gen- 
eral Johnston  under  the  heaviest  lire  I  could  find,  for  they  had 
told  me  at  his  headquarters  that  the  General  had  gone  to  the 
firing,  and  that  I  would  find  him  at  or  near  Polky  Hill,  I  went 
there  and  found  the  heavy  firing,  but  re-enforcements  were 
coming  up.  By  the  way,  I  never  saw  as  much  reason  to  admire 
your  great  bishop  than  I  did  in  the  hour  I  passed  there,  and  it 
proves  what  they  say,  that  "blood  is  thicker  than  water."  Let 
me  tell  you  the  story  as  I  have  told  it  to  May.  "Open  your 
fire,"  said  the  General.  He  was  addressing  the  captain  of  a 
battery  just  above  us  on  the  crest  of  a  hill,  from  the  valley  of 
which  our  skirmishers  had  been  driven  in  on  the  lines,  and  he 
was  speaking  "fire"  on  the  crest  of  the  left  opposite.  "Our 
troops  are  climbing  the  base  of  the  hill;  if  I  fire  I  open  on 
them,"  said  the  captain.  "Open  your  fire,"  was  the  reply.  By 
this  time  the  hill  opposite  seemed  to  be  on  fire.  "Open  your 
fire,  sir,"  and  the  fire  was  opened.  Stevens  climbed  the  hill 
by  its  aid,  and  while  I  was  watching  the  climb  and  glorying  in 


98  THE  SOLr3IER-BISHOP 

its  success,  there  came  amid  shot  and  shell  the  statement : 
"Walker's  division  is  crossing  the  river."  I  had  been  that 
morning  under  pretty  sharp  fire  myself,  but  I  forgot  everything 
when  I  saw  you.  I  went  high  on  the  hill  to  see,  notwithstand- 
ing the  "mosquitoes."  Standing  by  that  bridge  upon  your 
black  horse,  until  all  of  your  command  were  by,  you  sat  as 
if  upon  parade.  I  did  not  think  of  Walker,  the  gallant  fellow 
(who  knew  me).  I  saw  him  salute  splendidly.  I  heard  the 
General  say:  "Follow  the  firing."  It  was  then  chiefly  beyond 
us,  but  my  soul  was  on  that  figure  at  the  bridge.  "Double 
quick  your  men,"  said  General  Polk;  "this  fire  is  very  heavy." 
"Double  quick  your  men."  One  of  the  handsomest  sights  I 
saw  during  the  war  was  General  W.  H.  T.  Walker,  saluting  on 
the  slope  of  that  hill  at  Resaca.  He  was  well  mounted,  always 
trim,  and  he  took  off  his  chapeau  as  if  on  parade.  "Double 
quick  your  men!"  was  the  first  response.  "Where  shall  I 
move?"  asked  General  Walker,  evidently  supposing  the  order 
to  "double  quick"  prospective.  "Double  quick  your  men,  sir," 
was  the  only  reply,  and  I  have  no  doubt  it  saved  many  lives. 

The  most  intensely  interesting  sight  I  saw  during  the  war 
was  that  to  which  I  have  alluded,  when  you  stood  too  long 
at  that  bridge,  confound  you,  under  the  fire  of,  Sherman 
knows,  how  many  guns."  (Signed)      F.  W.  C. 


r.RIGADIER-GEXERAL  ELLISON   CAPERS,  C.   S.   A. 

(From  an   imperfect   photograph,   1SG5,  but  the  only  one  he 
ever   had   taken   in   Confederate   uniform.) 


Opfosite  page  99. 


CHAPTER  X 

gist's   brigade   with    hood  in   TENNESSEE 

When  Napoleon  retired  to  Elba  he  was  neither  conquered  nor 
subdued.  Though  forced  to  retire  there,  yet  there  he  prepared 
again  to  spring  forward  to  overthrow  his  enemies.  At  Elba  he 
dreamed  of  and  planned  for  retaliation,  conquest,  empire.  He 
knew  the  French  resented  Wellington,  and  could  not  at  once 
be  cured  of  their  inherent  hatred  of  the  gouty  Bourbon.  The 
prospect  of  realizing  his  own  ambition  increased  in  proportion 
to  the  growing  discontent  of  the  French  people  with  the  arro- 
gant oppression  of  the  new  regime.  Intriguing  "sister 
Pauline."  as  she  came  and  went  between  Naples  and  the  royal 
island  where  her  emperor  brother,  with  every  outward  show 
of  content,  lived  luxuriously,  kept  him  posted.  IMurat.  king  of 
Naples,  was  made  to  understand  that  the  lion  was  not  dead — 
no.  not  even  asleep!  And  so  Napoleon  made  his  resolution 
and  fixed  the  time  when,  passing  from  the  south  of  France  to 
the  Tuilleries,  the  soldiery  of  France  would  flock  to  his  stand- 
ard. He  would  expel  the  foreigner,  re-establish  his  power, 
and.  with  his  power  fixed,  extend  the  empire.  This  was  a 
mighty  dream  the  "immense  somnambulist"  was  dreaming. 
We  are  familiar  with  the  details  of  the  ever  memorable  "Hun- 
dred Days"  and  Bonaparte's  rude  awakening  at  Waterloo.  But 
had  Napoleon's  dream  been  realized  the  map  of  the  continent 
would  have  been  changed. 

On  October  15  and  16.  1864.  at  Cross  Roads,  Ga.,  in  the 
beautiful  valley  nine  miles  from  Lafayette,  an  "immense  som- 
nambulist" dreamed  that  he  would  reconstruct  the  map  of  the 
Western  Hemisphere.     During  that  memorable  time  General 

99 


loo  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

John  B.  Hood  was  dreaming  in  his  tent,  not  of  personal  con- 
quest, a  diadem,  and  an  empire,  but  of  the  freedom  of  the 
great  repubHc  for  which  he  fought.  The  battles  around  Atlanta 
had  been  fought,  and  Sherman  did  not  easily  flank  this  deter- 
mined foe,  for  in  his  memoirs  he  says :  'T  now  became 
satisfied  that  cavalry  could  not  or  would  not  make  a  lodgment 
on  the  railroad  below  Atlanta,  and  that  nothing  would  suffice 
but  for  us  to  reach  it  with  the  main  army."  Thus  for  forty 
days  a  force  of  45,000  successfully  opposed  Sherman's  106,000. 

Finally  Atlanta  became  untenable,  and  the  battle  of  Jones- 
boro  followed,  September  i.  Then  came  maneuvers  in  the 
mountains  of  north  Georgia,  with  the  hope  of  decoying  Sher- 
man back  and  defeating  him  in  battle.  At  Cross  Roads  the 
dream  was  vouchsafed  to  Hood.  This  was  the  vision :  A 
campaign  into  Tennessee,  with  the  line  established  in  Ken- 
tucky ;  to  move  upon  Thomas  and  Schofield ;  rout  the  latter  be- 
fore he  could  unite  with  Thomas ;  capture  Nashville  ;  provision 
the  army ;  cross  the  Cumberland  River ;  threaten  Cincinnati ; 
recruit  the  army  from  Tennessee  and  Kentucky;  and  before 
Sherman  could  reach  Grant  by  water  and  land,  or  repair  to 
the  defense  of  Kentucky  and  Ohio,  march  through  the  Cumber- 
land Mountains  to  the  support  of  Lee ;  assault  Grant  in  the 
rear  at  Petersburg;  Lee  then  to  march  upon  Washington 
or  turn  and  annihilate  Sherman.  This  dream  dissolved  at 
Franklin. 

After  the  battle  of  Arsis  Napoleon  crossed  the  Marne  River 
and  attempted  to  maneuver  in  the  rear  of  the  allied  armies, 
with  the  vain  hope  that  by  falling  upon  and  destroying  de- 
tached troops  he  might  stay  the  march  of  the  conquerors  to- 
ward the  gates  of  Paris.  His  efforts  availed  him  nothing.  The 
hungry  soldiers  could  not  be  diverted  from  their  prey.  To 
humiliate  the  proud  capital  of  France  was  not  an  unnatural 
ambition  with  Alexander  and  Wellington  and  Blucher;  while 
the  loot  of  the  famous  city  dazzled  the  imagination  of  the  fierce 
soldiery. 


ELLISON  CAPERS  loi 

Hood's  maneuvering  in  north  Georgia  and  his  campaign 
into  Tennessee  failed  to  divert  Sherman  from  his  ''march  to 
the  sea,"  with  wealthy,  aristocratic,  intensely  Southern  Sa\'an- 
nah  as  the  object  of  his  vengeance;  while  the  wealthy  planta- 
tions and  pillage  of  towns  and  cities  excited  to  madness  the 
imagination  of  soldiers  who  were  taught  to  believe  that  they 
were  "fighting  the  battles  of  God  and  liberty"  and  the  pillage 
of  "the  barbarian"  was  their  lawful  spoils. 

At  Palmetto,  Ga.,  on  the  29th  of  September,  '64,  Hood 
broke  camp  and  marched  his  army  toward  the  Chattahoochee. 
His  disastrous  campaign  had  begun.  Before  the  army  was  put 
in  motion  President  Davis  visited  General  Hood  to  confer  with 
him,  and  also  to  inspect  the  army.  We  here  introduce  the  fol- 
lowing letters  written  by  Captain  James  Tillman  to  his  brother, 
then  in  the  Confederate  Congress,  which  in  simple  language 
portrays  the  personality  of  the  Confederate  President. 

The  first  letter,  dated  from  Palmetto,  Ga.,  September  25, 
'64,  runs  as  follows : 

"The  army  generally  is  in  good  health  and  cheerful.  General 
Johnston  is  all  that  is  desired.  The  whole  army  would  hail 
his  return  with  the  wildest  shouts  of  applause,  and  yet  our 
President  will  not  reinstate  him.  We  are  looking  for  Mr. 
Davis  every  hour,  as  it  was  announced  in  orders  on  yesterday 
that  he  would  inspect  the  fortifications  this  morning.  He  will 
be  treated  very  coldly,  and  it  will  be  deserving.  He  has  for- 
feited all  claims  to  our  regard  and  kind  consideration.  Per- 
haps hurrahs  for  Johnston  will  greet  his  ears."  But  that  after- 
noon he  writes : 

"Our  brigade  has  just  returned  to  camp.  We  were  reviewed 
by  the  President.  The  whole  brigade  moved  out  sullenly,  to 
be  seen  by  him.  We  had  scarcely  taken  position  before  his 
Excellency  appeared  and  rode  slowly  along  the  line,  saluting 
officers  and  men  by  raising  his  hat  as  he  passed  by.  Though 
scarcely  a  man  left  the  bivouac  who  had  not  determined  to 


I02  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

treat  him  coldly,  his  calm  pale  face  and  frosty  locks  created 
a  deep  sympathy  in  behalf  of  the  careworn  Executive,  and 
when  General  Gist  proposed  'three  cheers  for  our  President'  a 
wild,  united  shout  was  given,  such  as  we  used  to  give  when 
our  great  and  much  loved  General  was  with  us  and  rode  along 
the  line  or  encampment." 

However,  to  revert  to  Cross  Roads,  from  which  place 
Hood's  "forward  movement,  in  the  rear — an  apparent  para- 
dox, but  sometimes  a  fact  in  military  operations — began  in 
dead  earnest.  Crossing  the  State  line  on  the  i8th  of  October, 
the  army  was  halted  at  Gadsden,  Ala.,  three  days  thereafter, 
and  there  secured  their  mail  and  drew  supplies,  which,  while 
not  meeting  the  actual  necessities  of  the  men,  relieved  the 
most  needy.  In  his  report  Colonel  Capers  states  that  there 
were  more  than  twenty  men  in  the  Twenty- fourth  South  Caro- 
lina who  were  absolutely  barefooted  when  they  reached  Gads- 
den. On  the  2 1  St  Hood  made  known  to  the  army  his  purpose 
to  cross  the  Tennessee  and  march  into  that  State.  Passing 
from  Sand  Mountain,  the  army  reached  Decatur  on  the  after- 
noon of  the  26th,  and  were  formed  in  line  of  battle — General 
Schofield  then  holding  the  line  of  the  Tennessee  from  that 
point  to  Chattanooga.  Having  to  contend  with  drenching 
rains  and  muddy  roads,  the  troops  were  nevertheless  in  fine 
spirits,  and  seemed  eager  to  "get  at  the  enemy."  While  before 
Decatur  the  line  of  battle  was  shelled  by  the  Federals,  and 
shelled  so  vigorously  that  the  men  had  no  chance  to  cook,  and 
therefore  many  of  them  actually  suffered  from  hunger.  On 
the  29th  the  Confederate  army  moved  toward  Tuscumbia  and 
Florence,  Ala.,  where  after  some  delay  the  Tennessee  River 
was  crossed,  and  Hood's  army  marched  through  that  beautiful 
valley,  a  valley  now  made  desolate  by  the  enemy.  "The  Com- 
manding General  called  upon  the  troops  to  look  upon  the  ruined 
homes  on  every  hand,  and  exhorted  every  man  and  officer  to 
vow  the  redemption  of  Tennessee  from  the  grasp  of  the  foe. 
This  circular  was  received  by  the  Twenty- fourth  South  Caro- 


ELLISON  CAPERS  103 

lina  Volunteers  with  cheers,  though  many  of  the  gallant  sol- 
diers who  cheered  were  then  absolutely  suffering  for  clothes 
and  shoes."*  The  weather  continued  miserable  and  camp  life 
became  almost  unbearable. 

While  these  operations  were  in  progress  in  the  Confederate 
army,  General  Schofield.  commanding  the  Union  army  at  Deca- 
tur, abandoned  the  line  of  the  Tennessee,  and  began  to  con- 
centrate at  Pulaski,  evidently  expecting  Hood  to  march 
through  that  place  en  route  to  Franklin  and  Nashville  by  the 
way  of  the  Lewisburg  and  Franklin  turnpikes.  Learning,  how- 
ever, that  the  Confederate  army  was  moving  over  the  "Waynes- 
boro and  Lawrenceburg  pikes  toward  Mount  Pleasant,  Scho- 
field started  General  Cox  in  advance  on  the  Pulaski  pike. 
When  he  reached  Lynville  on  the  26th  of  November  the  lead- 
ing columns  of  the  Confederate  army  had  reached  Summer- 
town. 

The  head  of  each  army  being  exactly  seventeen  miles 
from  Columbia,  Columbia  now  became  the  strategic  point  on 
Duck  River,  south  of  which  river  General  Thomas  had  ordered 
Schofield  to  hold  the  rapidly  advancing  enemy.  With  an  equal 
distance  to  go,  along  open  pikes,  the  advance  and  retreat  of  the 
two  armies  respectively  became  a  breakneck  dash  for  the 
coveted  point.  Even  the  soldiers  in  the  ranks  intuitively  felt 
that  this  was  a  race  for  life,  and  that  the  time  was  drawing 
near  when  one  army  or  the  other  would  be  destroyed. 

General  Cox  marched  his  troops  all  night,  the  night  of 
the  26th.  and  by  day  dawn  had  reached  the  Warfield  house, 
within  three  miles  of  Columbia.  Here  he  halted  and  began  to 
look  about  for  the  enemy,  but  neither  seeing  nor  hearing  any 
evidence  of  his  approach,  Cox  wisely  concluded  that  there 
was  but  one  other  way  Hood  could  be  advancing,  and  that  was 
over  the  Mount  Pleasant  pike.  He  therefore  of  his  own  motion 
moved  immediately  due  west,  and  through  a  country  road 
reached  that  pike  at  Little  Bigby  just  in  time  to  threaten  and 
check  the  advance  of  Hood's  leading  column  over  that  creek. 

*Colonel  Capers'  Report. 


I04  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

Hood's  army  was  passing  through  the  "dimple  spot  in  the 
basin  of  Middle  Tennessee,"  and  otiicers  and  men  were  fre- 
quently heard  to  comment  on  the  apparent  fertility  of  the  soil 
and  the  one-time  prosperity  of  the  beautiful  country.  And  as 
the  renowned  and  heroic  General  Cleburne,  accompanied  by 
his  staff  (and  an  officer  or  two  not  of  his  official  family,  among 
whom  was  Colonel  Capers,  who  records  the  incident),  was 
passing  St.  John's  Church,  seven  miles  below  Columbia,  Cle- 
burne was  so  much  impressed  with  the  picturesque  loveliness 
of  this  sanctuary  in  the  woods,  with  its  stately  poplars,  spread- 
ing oaks,  and  beautiful  lawns,  and  its  retired  quiet  corner 
wherein  to  rest  its  dead,  that  he  turned  impulsively  to  some 
of  his  staff  and  said :  "So  this  is  the  church  built  by  General 
Leonidas  Polk  and  members  of  his  family?  If  I  am  killed  in 
the  impending  battle  I  request  that  my  body  be  laid  to  rest 
in  this,  the  most  beautiful  and  peaceful  spot  I  ever  beheld." 
The  next  day  at  Franklin,  Cleburne  died  a  soldier's  death, 
leading  in  the  charge. 

After  the  noise  of  battle  rolled  on  to  the  hills  of  Nashville, 
Chaplain  Ouintard  had  the  bodies  of  Cleburne,  Strahl,  Adams, 
and  Carter,  all  generals  in  the  Confederate  army,  and  all 
killed  in  the  carnage  at  Franklin,  buried  in  the  sacred  soil  of 
old  St.  John's,  where  even  now  a  solemn  hush  pervades  the 
place,  and  we  feel  the  presence  of  those  noble  dead.  And 
though  in  time  their  respective  States  claimed  their  ashes,  yet 
their  transient  rest  beneath  the  spreading  trees  in  the  quiet 
churchyard,  already  historic  (for  there  is  the  quaint  tomb  of 
the  great  Bishop  Otey),  has  fixed  their  memory  in  the  place 
and  wings  the  imagination  back  to  the  days  of  heroic  sacrifices 
and  noble  deeds  when  such  men  gave  their  lives  that  posterity 
might  be  free. 

To  return  from  this  digression.  "The  march  from  Florence 
to  Columbia  was  forced  all  the  way;  the  weather  and  roads 
were  bad,  and  rations  very  short,  three  biscuits  only  on  the 
24th  and  25th  to  each  man." 

We  left  the  advance  of  General  Hood's  army  checked  before 


ELLISON  CAPERS  105 

Little  Bigby  Creek,  and  here  it  was  Hood  conceived  and  began 
his  brilliant  flanking  movement  toward  the  more  easterly  fords 
of  Duck  River.  That  morning  at  day  dawn  General  Cox  had 
stopped  at  the  Warfield  house,  on  the  Pulaski  pike,  and,  as  we 
have  seen,  moved  abruptly  due  west  from  there  on  to  the  Mount 
Pleasant  pike.  Now  Hood  on  the  Mount  Pleasant  pike  began 
to  maneuver  in  exactly  the  opposite  direction,  and,  edging 
around  the  hills,  he  made  Cox  unknowingly  "swap"  pikes.  He 
now  occupied  the  Warfield  house,  where  Cox  had  paused,  and 
the  way  to  Davis  ford  across  Duck  River  was  open  to  his  army, 
and  there  they  crossed.  It  is  related  by  Mrs.  Warfield  that  the 
General  was  up  before  three  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the 
29th,  preparing  to  supervise  in  person  the  movement  of  the 
army  across  Davis  ford.  Being  urged  by  his  kind  hostess  to 
wait  until  she  could  get  him  something  to  eat,  he  courteously 
declined  and  explained :  "The  next  hour  or  two  might  decide 
the  fate  of  the  army;  therefore  it  is  imperative  that  I  conduct 
the  army  across  Duck  River."  Had  this  praiseworthy  energy 
characterized  his  efforts  during  the  fateful  crisis  which  fol- 
lowed at  Spring  Hill  between  four  o'clock  and  dark  of  the 
same  day,  who  can  venture  to  prophesy  as  to  the  ultimate 
outcome  of  the  war  in  the  West? 

However,  on  the  worn  army  marched,  straining  every 
quivering  nerve  and  expending  its  energy  to  press  its  advantage 
and  cut  off  the  enemy.  General  Forrest  had  driven  Wilson's 
cavalry  rapidly  before  him;  Forrest  and  Cleburne  skinnished 
with  Bradley  and  Lane,  and  easily  drove  their  little  brigades 
in  upon  Spring  Hill,  where  Schofield's  entire  army  train  was 
parked. 

One  vigorous  assault  and  all  the  treasures  would  have 
been  speedily  "transferred  to  our  side  of  the  house."  (Hood's 
expression.)  By  sundown  Gist  and  Strahl  had  arrived,  and 
General  John  C.  Brown  had  his  division  intact.  Bate 
had  been  recalled  from  fronting  the  pike  and  formed  on 
Cleburne's  left ;  Brown  now  on  the  extreme  right  with  A.  P. 
Stewart's  corps  moved  in  obedience  to  orders  to  take  posses- 


io6  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

sion  of  the  pike  beyond  Spring  Hill.  The  line  of  battle  was 
formed,  all  things  were  in  readiness.  The  game  had  been 
"bagged";  it  only  remained  to  "pull  the  string."  The  sound 
of  Brown's  guns  was  to  be  the  signal  for  Cleburne,  Cheatham, 
and  other  commanders  to  advance. 

The  Federal  General  Lane  moved  his  brigade  out  on  Brown's 
right  and  threatened  him.  Brown's  heart  failed  him,  a  heart 
hitherto  impervious  to  fear.  He  scented  "disaster."  He  so 
informed  Cheatham,  who  seems  to  have  replied :  "Throw  back 
your  right  brigade  and  attack."  Had  he  done  so  the  little  "bull 
pens"  around  Spring  Hill  would  have  been  almost  instantly 
swept  aside,  the  great  army  train  and  artillery  secured ;  Scho- 
field's  army  routed  and  destroyed ;  and  the  rising  tide  of  enthu- 
siasm among  the  Confederate  soldiers  converted  into  an  ad- 
vancing torrent,  which  Thomas  at  Nashville  would  have  been 
impotent  to  stay.  All  this  would  have  meant  inevitably  the 
kindling  of  new  hopes  among  the  masses  of  Southern  people; 
revived  confidence  in  our  military  leaders;  a  large  inflow  of 
fresh  men  into  the  army;  a  new  lease  on  life  for  the  tottering 
Confederacy,  and  perhaps  terms  of  peace  which  would  not 
have  been  humiliating  or  financially  disastrous  to  the  South. 
Who  can  tell  ?  But  why  speculate  ?  "The  times  were  out  of 
joint."  Officers  with  clear  heads  suddenly  became  confused. 
Leaders  with  brave  hearts  began  to  doubt  their  strength  in 
the  face  of  a  feeble  foe.  Privates  shot  into  the  ranks  of  the 
passing  army  or  ventured  to  the  pike  to  capture  "a  Yank  or 
two"  for  the  benefit  of  the  haversack.  But  the  general  officers 
could  not  or  would  not  venture  a  move.  One  moment  all  the 
generals  thought  they  had  definite,  specific  orders;  the  next 
moment  they  had  none. 

When  urged  by  his  brigadiers  to  attack,  General  Brown,  that 
lion-hearted,  splendid  soldier,  only  replied  :  "I  have  no  orders." 
When  twitted  by  an  officer,  Brown  ordered  him  under  arrest. 
General  Chalmers  said:  "I  am  not  in  command,"  and  then 
lay  down  under  the  shadow  of  a  tree.  Gist  and  Strahl  rode  out 
after  dark  to  see  what  was  going  on  down  at  the  pike.     Col- 


ELLISON  CAPERS  107 

onel  Capers  accompanied  them,  and,  as  if  to  relieve  his  im- 
patience of  this  unwarranted  delay,  emptied  his  pistol  into  the 
moving  troops,  and  the  three  officers  galloped  back  to  their 
commands.  And  the  commanding  general,  he  who  would  not 
tarry  for  even  a  morsel  of  breakfast  at  three  o'clock  on  that 
frosty  November  morning,  now  merely  swore  in  his  tent,  but 
never  thought  to  ride  to  the  front  and  lead  the  attack  in  person — 
an  attack  upon  which  depended  his  own  reputation,  the  safety 
of  the  army,  and  the  destiny  of  his  country!  Most  incompre- 
hensible! And  even  that  wizard,  Forrest,  he  who  intuitively 
penetrated  the  designs  of  the  enemy,  and  was  always  across  his 
purpose,  so  late  as  eleven  o'clock  that  night  solemnly  assured 
General  Hood  that  Schoiield  would  move  his  army  to  Franklin 
by  the  Carter's  Creek  pike.  This  accounts  for  his  presence  on 
that  pike,  and  his  absence  from  in  front  of  Franklin  when 
Hood's  army  was  destroyed. 

But  all  the  while  the  Federal  army  rumbled  on  over  the  open 
pike;  "rapidly  and  silently"  they  marched  through  the  Confed- 
erates' very  midst.  There  that  fated  army  bivouacked  and 
slept.  Schofield  must  have  thought  his  men  were  marching 
through  the  city  of  the  dead.  What  strange  stupor  had  fallen 
on  those  sleeping  heroes?  Perhaps  the  Angel  of  the  Lord  was 
through  that  host,  with  the  breath  of  a  weird  paralysis  exhaling 
from  his  lips;  or,  as  was  said  of  another  great  crisis  in  the 
annals  of  war,  "The  One  who  is  not  mocked  took  charge  of 
events.  .  .  .  God  passed  by."  But  we  will  let  Colonel 
Capers  tell  us  the  story  as  he  saw  it. 

"Early  on  the  29th  we  left  bivouac  and  marched  to  Davis' 
ford,  on  Duck  River,  crossing  on  a  pontoon,  and  continued 
the  march  toward  Spring  Hill,  immediately  on  the  rear  of  the 
enemy's  position  at  Columbia.  The  march  was  rapid  and  over 
bad  roads,  and  part  of  the  way  over  the  open  plantations.  We 
arrived  before  Spring  Hill  about  sunset,  and  were  formed  in 
line  of  battle,  facing  the  town  and  apparently  about  a  mile 
distant.  The  enemy  seemed  to  be  in  confusion,  as  we  could 
hear  the  noise  of  pulling  down  fences  and  houses  and  the  rat- 


io8  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

tling  of  wheels  on  the  pike.  Our  troops  were  fighting  on  our 
right  and  we  were  expecting  momentarily  to  be  ordered  for- 
ward. No  order  came,  however,  and  as  dark  came  on  General 
Gist  and  myself  rode  out  toward  the  enemy  within  pistol  shot. 
This  state  of  affairs  was,  and  still  is,  inexplicable  to  me,  and 
gave  us  a  great  disappointment.  Later  on  in  the  night  we 
could  hear  the  rolling  of  wheels  over  the  pike,  as  the  enemy's 
artillery  and  wagons  moved  on  to  Franklin.  After  an  anxious 
night  of  waiting  we  moved  next  morning  on  to  the  pike  and 
marched  after  Stewart's  corps  toward  Franklin.  Burnt  wagons 
and  dead  mules  were  passed  on  the  pike,  and  other  evidences 
of  a  hasty  retreat  of  the  enemy. 

"About  2  p.  M.  the  head  of  our  corps  reached  a  line  of  high 
hills  crossing  the  Franklin  pike,  on  which  the  enemy  had  a 
force.  Stewart  drove  this  force  back,  and  we  formed  line  of 
battle  at  the  foot  of  the  hills.  In  the  order  of  formation 
Stewart's  corps  was  on  the  right  of  the  pike  and  Hardee's, 
commanded  by  Cheatham,  was  deployed  on  the  left.  The  divi- 
sions were  formed  in  two  lines,  from  right  to  left,  as  follows : 
Cleburne's,  Brown's,  and  Bate's.  In  our  division  (Brown's) 
Gist's  and  Gordon's  brigades  occupied  the  front  and  Carter's 
and  Strahl's  the  rear  lines ;  Gist  was  on  the  left  of  Gordon, 
and  the  Twenty-fourth  on  the  left  of  Gist's  brigade,  so  that  we 
occupied  the  left  of  the  division.  In  this  order  the  two  corps 
moved  forward  to  the  top  of  the  hills.  The  enemy  was  in- 
trenched in  a  semicircle  in  front  of  Franklin,  with  his  flanks 
refused  and  resting  on  the  Harpeth  River  in  his  rear;  there 
was  also  a  short  line  of  troops,  apparently  a  division,  about 
five  hundred  yards  in  front  of  the  main  force.  The  distance 
from  our  position  to  this  advanced  force  seemed  to  be  about  a 
mile  and  a  quarter. 

"About  four  o'clock  the  two  corps  moved  down  the  hill, 
our  division  marching  by  the  right  flank  of  regiments  until 
we  descended  the  slopes,  then  forming  forward  into  line.  As 
we  advanced,  the  force  in  front  opened  fire  on  us,  and  our 
line  moved  steadily  on,  the  enemy  retreating  as  we  pressed 


ELLISON  CAPERS  109 

forward.  Just  before  the  charge  was  ordered  the  brigade 
passed  over  an  elevation,  from  which  we  beheld  the  magnifi- 
cent spectacle  the  battle-field  presented.  Bands  were  playing, 
generals  and  staff  officers  and  gallant  couriers  were  riding  in 
front  of  and  behind  the  lines,  a  hundred  battle-flags  were  wav- 
ing in  the  smoke  of  battle,  and  bursting  shells  were  wreathing 
the  air  with  great  circles  of  smoke,  while  twenty  thousand 
brave  men  were  marching  in  perfect  order  against  the  foe. 
The  sight  inspired  every  man  of  the  Twenty-fourth  with  the 
sentiment  of  duty.  As  we  were  pressing  back  the  enemy's 
advance  forces  Lieutenant-Colonel  J.  S.  Jones  fell  mortally 
wounded  in  front  of  the  right  of  the  regiment.  General  Gist, 
attended  b}^  Captain  H.  D.  Garden  and  Lieutenant  Frank  Tren- 
holm,  of  his  staff,  rode  down  our  front  and,  returning,  ordered 
the  charge  in  concert  with  General  Gordon. 

"In  passing  from  the  left  to  the  right  of  the  regiment  the 
General  waved  his  hat  to  us.  expressed  his  confidence  and  pride 
in  the  Twenty-fourth,  and  rode  away  in  the  smoke  of  battle, 
never  more  to  be  seen  by  the  men  he  had  commanded  on  so 
many  fields.  His  horse  was  shot  and,  dismounting,  he  was 
leading  the  right  of  the  brigade  when  he  fell,  pierced  through 
the  heart.  On  pressed  the  charging  lines  of  the  brigade,  driv- 
ing the  advance  force  of  the  enemy  pell-mell  into  a  locust  abatis, 
where  many  were  captured  and  sent  to  the  rear ;  others  were 
wounded  by  the  fire  of  their  own  men.  This  abatis  was  a  for- 
midable and  fearful  obstruction.  The  entire  brigade  was 
arrested  by  it.  Fortunately  for  us  the  fire  of  the  enemy  slack- 
ened, to  let  their  advance  troops  come  in,  and  we  took  ad- 
vantage of  it  to  work  our  way  through.  Gist's  and  Gordon's 
brigades  charged  on,  and  reached  the  ditch  of  the  work, 
mounted  the  work,  and  met  the  enemy  in  close  combat.  The 
colors  of  the  Twenty- fourth  were  planted  and  defended  on  the 
parapet,  and  the  enemy  retired  in  our  front  some  distance,  but 
soon  rallied  and  came  back  in  turn  to  charge  us.  He  never  suc- 
ceeded in  retaking  the  line  we  held. 

"About  dusk  there  was  a  lull  in  the  firing  west  of  the  pike. 


no  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

Brown's  division  had  established  itself  in  the  ditch  of  the  work 
so  far  as  Gist's  brigade  fronted  on  the  crest.  Torn  and  ex- 
hausted, deprived  of  every  general  officer  and  nearly  every 
field  officer,  the  division  had  only  strength  enough  left  to  hold 
its  position.  Strahl's  and  Carter's  brigades  came  gallantly  to 
the  assistance  of  Gist's  and  Gordon's,  but  the  enemy's  fire 
from  the  houses  in  the  rear  of  the  line,  and  from  his  reserves, 
thrown  rapidly  forward,  and  from  guns  posted  on  the  far  side 
of  the  river  so  as  to  enfilade  the  field,  tore  their  line  to  pieces 
before  it  reached  the  locust  abatis.  Strahl  and  his  entire  staff 
were  killed  together  before  reaching  the  work,  and  Carter  was 
mortally  wounded.  But  there  was  no  backward  movement  of 
this  line.  Its  momentum,  though  slackened  by  its  terrible  losses, 
carried  it  on  to  the  ditch.  Major  B.  Burgh  Smith,  of  the 
brigade  staff,  who  was  commanding  the  Sixteenth  South  Caro- 
lina Volunteers,  was  now  also  the  senior  of  the  brigade,  every 
superior  officer  having  either  been  killed  or  wounded.  Major 
Smith  established  the  line  on  the  works  and  maintained  an 
effective  fire  until  nine  o'clock,  by  having  his  men  in  the  ditch, 
many  of  whom  were  wounded,  to  load  and  pass  up  the  muskets 
to  the  men  on  the  works. 

"Major  Smith  informs  me  that  men  and  officers  of  Deas' 
brigade,  of  Johnston's  division  (which  came  on  the  field  late 
in  the  evening),  assisted  in  maintaining  this  fire.  About  lo 
or  10:30  o'clock  Lieutenant  James  A.  Tillman,  of  the  Twenty- 
fourth,  led  his  own  company  (I)  and  men  from  other  com- 
panies of  the  regiment  in  a  charge  against  the  enemy  over 
the  work,  and  captured  the  colors  of  the  Ninety-seventh  Ohio 
Volunteer  Infantry  and  some  forty  prisoners.  The  regiment 
held  its  position,  as  did  the  brigade,  against  repeated  attempts 
to  drive  it  from  the  work,  until  about  midnight,  when  the 
enemy  retired  and  left  our  army  in  possession  of  the  bloody 
field  of  Eranklin.  I  was  shot  down  before  reaching  the  last 
work,  and  have  reported  the  facts  occurring  after  my  wound 
from  the  statement  of  men  and  officers  w^ho  visited  me  at  the 
hospital  the  next  day. 


ELLISON  CAPERS  iii 

"At  the  close  of  the  battle  Captain  Gillis,  of  the  Forty-sixth 
Georgia,  was  the  senior  officer  of  the  brigade ;  of  General  Gist's 
staff  Captain  H.  D.  Garden  alone  remained.  Before  we 
reached  the  locust  abatis  the  ranks  of  the  regiment  were  deci- 
mated by  the  direct  enfiladed  fire  of  the  enemy,  and  the  lieu- 
tenant-colonel and  myself  had  both  been  shot  down,  yet  the 
company  officers  led  the  men  forward,  worked  their  way 
through  the  abatis,  and  assaulted  the  main  work.  Lieutenant 
Gailey,  of  Company  F,  and  Lieutenant  Padgett,  of  Company 
I,  with  many  of  the  men,  were  killed  beyond  the  work. 

"From  Palmetto  to  Franklin  the  regiment  marched  over  five 
hundred  miles.  We  suffered  much  during  November  from 
want  of  clothes,  shoes,  and  blankets.  Once  during  the  cam- 
paign the  men  received  as  a  ration  three  ears  of  corn  to  each 
man,  and  frequently  we  had  nothing  but  corn  meal.  But  I 
am  happy  to  report  that  no  man  deserted  the  flag  of  his  regi- 
ment, and  no  command  of  the  army  fought  with  more  spirit 
and  heroic  determination  at  Franklin  than  did  the  Twenty- 
fourth  South  Carolina  Volunteers." 

The  day  after  the  battle  Colonel  Capers  was  moved  to 
Columbia,  and  tenderly  cared  for  at  the  hospitable  home  of 
Mr.  Dale,  which  stands  almost  immediately  opposite  the  his- 
toric old  college  for  women,  Columbia  Institute,  of  which  the 
author  of  this  work,  the  youngest  of  General  Capers'  sons,  is 
the  president.  A  few  years  before  his  death  Bishop  Capers 
came  out  to  Columbia  to  visit  the  scenes  associated  with  this 
memorable  battle.  He  was  deeply  interested  to  learn  of  the 
disposition  of  the  remains  of  the  generals  buried  at  St.  John's, 
especially  so  when  told  that  as  rector  of  St.  Peter's  parish  the 
author  had  only  a  day  or  two  previous  to  his  visit  read  the 
service  and  made  an  address  over  the  ashes  of  General  Strahl, 
they  having  been  removed  by  his  old  soldiers  to  the  home  of 
his  adoption. 

In  speaking  about  the  blunder  at  Spring  Hill  to  old  soldiers 
who  were  calling  on  the  Bishop  at  the  time,  he  said :     "We 


112  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

[Cheatham's  division]  were  in  position  immediately  in  front  of 
Spring  Hill,  and  in  line  of  battle  parallel  with  the  road  on 
which  the  Federal  forces  were  forming,  moving,  and  in  great 
confusion,  and  in  full  time  to  make  the  attack  before  dusk.  My 
regiment,  and,  in  fact,  the  entire  brigade,  was  in  line  a  little 
after  sundown.  We  were  expecting  to  receive  orders  to  attack, 
and  could  not  understand  why  we  were  thus  forced  to  stand 
idly  by,  and  without  firing  a  shot,  to  see  the  enemy  march  past 
us.  It  was  just  growing  dark  when  I  rode  with  General  Gist 
and  other  officers  up  the  hill  toward  the  enemy's  line.  They 
appeared  to  be  making  hasty  preparations  for  defense.  The 
tramp  of  horses,  the  rattle  of  wagons,  the  command  of  officers, 
could  all  be  distinctly  heard.  The  truth  is,  we  were  so  close 
to  them,  as  we  turned  to  ride  off,  that  I  emptied  my  pistol  in 
the  direction  of  the  sound  of  their  voices.  There  can  be  no 
question  of  two  points  in  controversy  in  regard  to  the  causes 
for  this  blunder;  first,  after  our  brigade  was  in  line  there  was 
ample  time  to  attack,  and,  second,  the  enemy's  left  did  not 
extend  beyond  our  right  when  we  first  formed  for  attack." 

In  1884  General  Capers  received  the  following  letter  from 
General  John  O.  Lane,  the  man  who  brought  his  regiment  up 
on  Brown's  extreme  right  and,  threatening  his  flank,  made  that 
veteran  soldier  apprehensive  of  "disaster,"  and  postpone  the 
attack,  thereby  making  the  disaster  at  Franklin  possible.  Gen- 
eral Lane  writes : 

General  Ellison  Capers, 

Greenville,    S.    C.  , 

My  Dear  Sir:  Your  esteemed  favor  of  the  15th  just  received,  from 
which  I  see  I  had  anticipated  the  wishes  of  yourself  and  comrades,  and 
that  as  survivors  of  your  old  command  you  wish  to  extend  a  courtesy 
to  the  survivors  of  the  Ninety-seventh  Ohio,  hence  I  did  not  think  of 
asking  you  to  send  the  flag  to  me,  and  will  only  add  that  I  will  gladly 
promote  your  kindness  in  any  way  I  possibly  can. 

If  we  could  go  over  the  ground  from  Duck  River  to  Nashville  together, 
and  in  our  "glorious  old  age"  fight  that  campaign  over  with  none  to 
molest  or  make  us  afraid,  I  could  show  you  where  you  had  us,  and  had 


ELLISON  CAPERS  113 

Hood  advanced  promptly  the  consequences  might  have  been  serious  to 
us.  Spring  Hill  was  your  opportunity  when  you  appeared  in  our  front 
with  a  corps  and  your  army  in  supporting  distance ;  fewer  than  five 
hundred  men  were  between  your  forces  and  our  train ;  no  Federals  in 
supporting  distance.  True,  a  division  was  at  Spring  Hill,  but  also 
extended  so  as  to  protect  all  approaches  to  our  train.  But  in  your  front, 
covering  at  least  a  mile,  there  were  fewer  than  hve  hundred  men  to 
resist  your  veterans.  My  notes,  made  at  the  time,  give  our  positions, 
and  with  your  knowledge  fitted  to  it,  the  story  would  be  one  full  of 
interest. 

I  hope  we  may  meet  in  this  friendly  way.     Until  then  I  am, 

Yours  truly, 

(Signed)     John  Q.  Lane. 

We  here  subjoin  notes  taken  from  Colonel  Capers'  memo- 
randa on  Hood's  campaign,  of  1864,  and  the  battle  of  Franklin. 
These  notes  are  of  interest  chietiy  because,  made  in  his  personal 
diary,  without  a  thought  of  publication,  they  give  us  an  in- 
sight into  the  spirituality  of  the  man,  and  his  beautiful  trust  in 
and  gratitude  to  God, — a  trait  that  characterized  him  even 
from  childhood, — as  well  as  his  manly  and  cheerful  spirit  in 
adversity.  They  also  furnish  us  with  a  vivid  description  of 
the  terrible  inconvenience  of  travel  at  that  time,  and  the  cruel 
suffering  endured  by  wounded  Confederate  soldiers  in  their 
efforts  to  reach  home  and  friends. 

Dec.  2d— I  made  my  last  note  from  a  high  hill  in  front  of 
Franklin,  on  which  our  division  had  halted.  I  did  not  then 
expect  that  the  enemy's  force  was  preparing  to  give  us  battle  at 
Franklin.  Stewart  and  Forrest  pressed  him  so  hard  that  he 
halted  and  fortified  himself  in  three  lines  of  intrenchments ; 
Stewart  on  the  right  of  the  pike,  and  Cheatham  on  the  left. 
Marched  till  about  4  p.  m.,  and  then  followed  the  battle  of 
Franklin.  I  received  a  severe  wound  in  my  left  foot,  at  the 
ankle,  late  in  the  afternoon,  and  was  carried  off  the  field  to  Mr. 
Harrison's  house,  and  kindly  cared  for. 

Dec.  3d— Major  Smith  and  I  rode  down  to  Columbia  in 
ambulance.    Stop  at  Div.  Hospital. 


114  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

Dec.  4th. — Removed  to  Mr.  Dale's.    Most  kindly  cared  for. 

Dec.  5th — To-day  is  cloudy  and  threatens  rain.  Our  good 
friends  here  are  most  kind  and  attentive.  I  am  impatient  to 
start  for  home.  My  wound  does  well.  At  7  p.  m.  took  ord- 
nance wagon  for  the  M.  &  C.  R.  R.  Camped  two  miles  from 
Columbia  on  the  Mount  Pleasant  pike. 

Dec.  7,  8,  9,  10,  and  11  on  the  road  to  the  Tennessee  River. 
Arrived  at  river  opposite  Barton  station  at  11  a.  m.  Cross  at 
7  p.  M.  Camp  at  R.  R.  shed.  Sleet,  rain,  wind,  and  bitter  freez- 
ing weather  from  Mount  Pleasant  to  Barton.  Everywhere 
covered  with  sleet  and  ice.  Suffered  greatly  en  route  from 
Columbia  to  Barton.  The  jolting  over  frozen  roads  and  rocks 
gave  great  pain  to  Smith  and  me.  Hot  rocks  to  our  feet, 
straw  to  lie  on,  and  my  invaluable  pillow,  great  comforts  to  me. 

Dec.  1 2th — Kindly  cared  for  by  Lieutenant  Thompson 
P.  M.  at  Barton,  until  3  p.  m._,  when  take  cars  for  Corinth.  No 
room  in  hotel  at  Corinth,  nor  in  hospital.  Ice  covering  the 
ground.  Conductor  prohibits  our  remaining  in  car.  Room 
at  depot,  given  coffee  and  good  bed  for  soldier.  Wound 
painful. 

Dec.  13th — No  train  for  the  south  to-day.  Cloudy,  frozen, 
and  windy.     Fever  all  day  and  night. 

Dec.  14th — Cloudy  and  mild.  Take  freight  train  for  West 
Point  at  9  A.  M.  Left  at  Prairie  station.  Spent  comfortable 
night  at  Mr.  Fortson's. 

Dec.  15th — Morning  cloudy,  evening  mild,  day  mild.  Took 
cars  at  9  a.  m.  and  arrived  at  Meridian  at  7 130  p.  m.  Stowed 
away  in  Wayside  hospital,  comfortably.  Wound  doing  well. 
Oh,  the  loving  kindness  of  my  Father  in  heaven !  His  Provi- 
dence constantly  shields  and  blesses  me ! 

Dec.  1 6th — Take  cars  at  6  a.  m.  for  Selma,  Ala.  Arrive  in 
Selma  at  6  p.  m.  Kindly  met  at  depot  and  cared  for  by  friend 
Stradley  at  his  room.  No  boat  to-night  for  Montgomery. 
Weather  mild. 

Dec.  17th — Cloudy  and  mild.  Get  aboard  of  the  Duke  at 
3:30  P.  M.  and  start  for  Montgomery  at  7  p.  m.     A  sorry 


FXLISON  CAPERS  115 

prospect  for  reaching  Montgomery.  The  Duke  an  inferior, 
slow  boat.     Smith  and  I  make  our  bed  down  on  a  cotton  bale. 

Dec.  1 8th — Sunday,  cloudy  and  mild.  We  made  only  about 
thirty  miles  last  night.  To-day  we  have  been  creeping  along. 
Engine  out  of  repair  and  everything  slow.  Weather  remark- 
ably mild.    Wound  doing  well. 

Dec.  19th — Arrived  at  Montgomery  at  4  a.  m.  Weather  still 
cloudy  and  very  mild.  Take  cars  for  Columbus  at  8  a.  m. 
Make  connection  at  Columbus  at  7  p.  m.  and  roll  on  to  Macon. 

Dec.  20th — Arrive  at  Macon  at  4  a.  m.  Willis  gets  us  passage 
on  wagon  for  Mayfield  for  one  hundred  dollars  a  seat !  Poor 
mules  and  poorer  driver.  Make  twenty-one  miles.  Stop  at 
Husson's.    Rain  at  night. 

Dec.  2 1st — Cloudy,  windy,  and  cold.  Arrive  at  Milledge- 
ville  at  10:30  A.  M.,  and  detained  by  high  water  in  the  Oconee. 
Put  up  at  hotel. 

Dec.  22nd — Cross  river  in  skifif.  and  take  hack  for  Sparta. 
Arrive  at  Sparta  at  4  :$o  p.  m.  Weather  very  cold. 

Dec.  23rd — Take  hack  for  Mayfield  and  cars  at  M.  for  Au- 
gusta at  II  A.  M.  Fine  day.  Learn  on  the  train  of  the  fall  of 
Savannah.     Reach  Augusta  at  dark,  and  stop  at  Mr.  Mann's. 

Dec.  24th — Start  for  Charleston  at  6  a.  m.  and  arrive  at 
8 :30  p.  M.     Stop  at  Mr.  Sage's. 

Dec.  25th — Christmas !  Spend  day  with  sister  Tady  and  Mr. 
Sage.    Rainy  day. 

In  the  spring  of  1865  the  Twenty- fourth  South  Carolina 
regiment  was  with  Cheatham's  corps,  then  operating  between 
Newberry,  S.  C,  and  Augusta,  Ga.  All  the  troops  in  that 
department  were  being  concentrated  under  the  command  of 
General  Joseph  E.  Johnston,  who  had  been  restored  to  com- 
mand and  ordered  to  stop  Sherman's  advance  through  the 
Carolinas. 

After  some  skirmishing  and  unimportant  engagements, 
Cheatham  joined  General  Johnston  near  Bentonville,  N.  C, 
but  not  in  time  to  take  part  in  that  important  and  successful 


ii6  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

affair.  Bentonville  was  the  last  pitched  battle  of  the  Civil  War, 
and  was  fought  to  the  credit  and  advantage  of  the  Confederate 
troops.  With  General  Johnston's  surrender  to  General  Sher- 
man, General  Capers  surrendered  Gist's  brigade,  of  which  he 
had  become  in  permanent  command.  His  commission  as  a 
Brigadier-General  was  issued  upon  indorsement  of  Generals 
Joseph  E.  Johnston,  Wm.  J.  Hardee  and  B.  F.  Cheatham. 

Hd.  Quarters  Cheatham's  Corps, 

Feb.,  1865. 
Brig.-General  E.  Capers  : — 

Allow  me  to  congratulate  you  upon  your  recent  promo- 
tion, a  promotion  which  you  have  gallantly  won  and  so  richly 
deserve.  In  conversation  with  General  Johnston  some  weeks 
since  he  on  two  different  occasions  remarked  to  me  that  your 
commission  was  in  his  Adjutant-General's  office,  and  was 
anxious  to  know  when  you  would  be  able  to  join  us. 

Hoping  you  peace  and  happiness  through  life,  I  remain. 
Your  friend  and  Commander, 

B.  F.  Cheatham, 

Maj.  General,  C.  S.  A. 

At  Smithfield,  N.  C,  General  Capers  bid  farewell  to  the 
officers  and  soldiers  of  his  gallant  command.  Here  the  soldier 
sheathed  the  sword  he  was  soon  to  exchange  for  the  svmbol 
of  a  higher  warfare.  Called  by  his  commanding  officer  "the 
intrepid  soldier,"  he  became  throughout  his  ministry  "the 
steady  column  of  the  Church."  The  same  loyal  service  he  ren- 
dered the  military  arm  of  the  Confederate  government  char- 
acterized this  soldier  of  the  cross  in  the  service  of  the  Prince 
of  Peace. 

The  following  incident  connected  with  the  battle  of  Benton- 
ville was  recorded  by  Rev.  Dr.  Capers  in  his  copy  of  "John- 
ston's Narrative" : 

"I  spent  a  part  of  this  day  (March  20,  1891 )  and  dined  with 
General  Hampton  at  Millwood,  his  sisters,  Kate,  Ann,  and 


ELLISON  CAPERS  117 

Carolina,  being  present.  After  dinner  the  General  and  I  sat 
in  the  piazza  and  fought  our  battles  over.  He  gave  a  very 
circumstantial  account  of  the  charge  related  at  Bentonville. 
and  told  me  this  anecdote  of  General  Hardee,  my  old  corps 
commander  in  the  Army  of  Tennessee.  Riding  back  with 
Hardee  after  the  charge,  the  General  laughingly  said  to  Gen- 
eral Hampton:  'General,  that  was  "nip  and  tuck,"  and  for 
a  while  I  thought  "tuck"  had  it.'  Riding  on  a  little  further 
he  met  the  body  of  his  gallant  and  only  son  being  borne  from 
the  field,  and,  dismounting,  kissed  the  brave  boy's  cold  brow, 
then  remounted  and  proceeded  to  give  orders  respecting  the 
disposition  of  the  troops." 


CHAPTER  XI 

IN   THE   DAYS    OF    RECONSTRUCTION 

With  the  surrender  of  General  Johnston's  army,  April  26, 
1865,  the  Confederate  Government  collapsed.  In  the  seceded 
States  there  remained  but  the  semblance  of  civil  authority.  In 
South  Carolina  the  Governor  was  sent  as  a  prisoner  to  Fort 
Pulaski,  Savannah;  and  the  military  arm  of  the  United  States 
took  charge  of  the  citizens  as  well  as  the  territory  of  the  pros- 
trate South.  "Military  courts  and  provost  courts  tried  all 
cases  from  petit  larceny  to  murder."  The  South  was  indeed 
a  "conquered  province."  The  first  military  Governor,  Major- 
General  Q.  A.  Gillman,  immediately  upon  assumption  of  office 
issued  a  proclamation  declaring  "the  people  of  the  black  race 
are  citizens  of  the  United  States,  whose  rights  must  be  re- 
spected accordingly." 

The  "Freedmen's  Bureau"  was  established,  with  the  avowed 
purpose  of  caring  for  the  emancipated  blacks.  At  first  its 
efforts  were  worthy,  and  it  rendered  a  real  service.  Later, 
however,  reckless  politicians  employed  its  organization  to  pro- 
mote their  own  base  designs,  and  when  the  Reconstruction 
Acts  (1867)  of  Congress  armed  the  "Bureau"  with  military 
power,  it  became  the  organized  source  of  pillage,  insurrection, 
and  murder.  The  ignorant  negro  was  made  to  believe 
that  for  his  support  of  the  "Carpet-bag"  leaders  he  was  to 
receive  forty  acres  and  a  mule,  and  soon  have  his  former  mas- 
ter working  in  his  fields  and  serving  at  his  table.  Social 
equality  was  the  goal  the  negroes  were  encouraged  to  work 
and  hope  for. 

No  newspaper  was  allowed  to  be  published  "without  the 

118 


ELLISON  CAPERS  119 

consent  of  the  major-general  commanding."  Thus  bound  and 
gagged,  an  additional  humiliation  was  forced  upon  the  citizens 
of  the  South  by  the  presence  of  negro  soldiers  parading  their 
streets,  challenging  their  rights,  and  supervising  their  ballots ; 
and  not  infrequently,  and  under  the  circumstances  not  alto- 
gether unnaturally,  the  negro  soldiers  became  arrogant,  im- 
pertinent and  even  murderous.  This  unwarranted  insult  was 
one  of  Secretary  Stanton's  methods  of  degrading  the  Confed- 
erate soldier  and  citizens.  By  this  act  Stanton  placed  them 
under  the  surveillance  of  their  recent  slaves  and  rendered 
their  women  and  children  almost  defenseless  in  the  presence 
of  insult  and  outrage.  The  African  menace  was  too  crude 
for  President  Johnson,  and  in  time  the  negro  troops  were 
withdrawn. 

In  April,  1865,  General  Capers  rejoined  his  family,  then 
refugeeing  in  Spartanburg,  S.  C.  A  kind  friend,  an  invalid 
Confederate  soldier,  together  with  the  good  women  of  his 
household,  had  welcomed  Mrs.  Capers  and  her  two  children, 
who  ref  ugeed  there  when  Sherman's  army  advanced  upon  Co- 
lumbia. Captain  Chichester  and  General  Capers  arranged  that 
their  families  should  continue  to  occupy  the  house  and  share 
living  expenses  until  a  new  start  could  be  made  in  the  strange 
and  untried  future. 

Sometimes  we  feel  that  it  is  impossible  to  sympathize  ade- 
quately with  the  old  Confederate  soldier,  not  primarily  for  the 
hardships  and  suffering  of  the  war,  but  rather  in  the  difficult 
days  after  peace  had  been  restored.  Leaving  the  camp  penni- 
less, he  returned  to  his  ruined  home,  where  in  the  midst  of 
universal  wreck  and  demoralization  he  was  expected  to  provide 
for  those  dependent  upon  him.  For  such  a  task  he  was  in  no 
way  prepared.  He  was  without  training  and  without  the 
proper  tools  with  which  to  work  in  the  new  environment  in 
which  he  found  himself.  And  many  times,  because  of  wounds 
and  sickness,  he  did  not  have  the  physical  strength  to  do  the 
only  kind  of  work  he  could  secure.  The  heroic  wife  and  hun- 
gry children  made  an  appeal  to  him  to  which  he  could  not 


I20  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

always  respond.  A  negro  soldiery  held  him  at  the  bayonet's 
point. 

President  Johnson  struck  an  additional  blow  against  the 
South  in  demanding  application  for  "special  pardons"  from  the 
more  prominent  and  influential  Southerners  who  had  either 
held  high  office  in  the  Confederate  government  or  army,  or 
who  had  enjoyed  wealth.  This  rendered  the  more  fortunate 
men  in  the  South  less  able  to  help  their  fellow-citizens,  as  they 
instantly  became  objects  upon  whom  those  in  power  were  apt 
to  vent  their  wrath.  Had  the  South  been  less  heroic,  or  had 
patriotic  friends  at  the  North  been  less  generous,  such  tyranny 
and  usurpation  of  power  might  have  made  shipwreck  of  the 
entire  nation. 

However,  President  Johnson  changed  his  course  and  became 
more  conciliatory  and  lenient  toward  the  South.  As  a  conse- 
quence, he  incurred  the  antagonism  of  revengeful  men  in 
Congress  and  in  some  sections  of  the  North,  who  sought  to 
have  him  impeached. 

South  Carolina  at  once  recognized  and  obeyed  the  authority 
of  the  United  States,  and  her  citizens  set  themselves  to  the 
task  of  making  the  best  of  their  desperate  situation.  But  some 
who  had  been  gallant  soldiers,  demoralized  by  the  failure  of 
their  Cause,  "went  to  the  bad" ;  others  made  a  heroic  effort  to 
maintain  themselves  and  their  families,  but  unaccustomed  to 
the  only  work  available,  they  sadly  failed.  There  were,  how- 
ever, men  who  proved  themselves  superior  to  adversity,  and 
with  a  splendid  courage  surmounted  every  obstacle.  In  the 
face  of  the  greatest  difficulties  such  men  maintained  tlieir 
self-respect,  supported  their  families,  helped  to  rebuild  the 
fallen  institutions  of  the  State,  pledged  themselves  to  its 
redemption  under  a  white  man's  government,  and  laid  the 
foundation  for  a  new  South,  a  South  which  could  respect  itself 
and  command  the  respect  of  the  other  sections  of  a  reunited 
country.  General  Ellison  Capers  belonged  to  this  latter  class 
of  ex-Confederate  soldiers,  who  were,  fortunately,  in  a  large 
majority  throughout  the  late  seceded  States. 


ELLISON  CAPERS  121 

General  Capers  took  his  family  to  the  old  home  place,  "Box 
Cottage."  Just  a  mile  or  two  from  Anderson  Court  House, 
this  little  farm  was  the  scene  of  his  boyhood.  Here  with 
brothers  and  playmates  he  had  hunted  and  fished,  learned  to 
ride  and  drive,  and  in  these  sports  he  soon  became  a  leader 
among  his  companions.  When  grown  to  manhood  and  com- 
manding a  regiment  in  the  war  some  of  the  Twenty-fourth's 
best  companies  went  out  to  him  from  Anderson.  And  Ander- 
son also  enjoyed  the  distinction  of  being  the  home  of  the  Hon. 
James  L.  Orr,  one  of  the  most  sagacious  political  leaders  of 
that  day.  Mr.  Orr  had  been  a  member  of  Congress  before  the 
War,  and  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives.  Just 
before  the  beginning  of  hostilities  he  was  a  member  of  the 
Peace  Commission  sent  to  Washington  by  the  Confederate 
Government,  and  later  a  member  of  the  Confederate  Senate 
and  a  colonel  in  its  army.  In  1866  Mr.  Orr  was  elected  Gov- 
ernor of  South  Carolina,  and  when  General  Grant  became 
President  he  sent  Governor  Orr  as  United  States  ambassador 
to  Russia. 

In  the  early  fifties,  when  Bishop  William  Capers  came  to 
live  in  Anderson,  the  Orr  and  Capers  families  became  warm 
friends.  In  1865  Colonel  Orr  was  a  great  admirer  of  his 
young  friend  General  Capers,  whom  he  had  known  from  his 
boyhood.  During  this  and  the  succeeding  year  Congress  was 
busy  proposing  and  debating  various  theories  and  doctrines 
for  "reconstruction."  There  was  the  "Restoration  Doctrine," 
which  declared  "the  acts  of  Secession  invalid  and  of  no  effect. 
No  State  therefore  had  seceded  or  could  secede;  the  State 
officers  were  guilty  of  illegal  acts,  which  rendered  them  liable 
to  punishment,  but  the  States  themselves  were  not  destroyed 
nor  their  Constitutions  abrogated,  and  as  soon  as  their  officers 
returned  to  their  duty,  or  others  took  their  places,  the  States 
would  ipso  facto  resume  their  normal  places  in  the  Union." 

The  "Presidential  Doctrine"  held  that  before  the  States 
could  be  restored  to  their  rights  and  privileges  under  the  Con- 
stitution the  President  was  empowered  to  dictate  such  terms 


122  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

as  in  his  opinion  seemed  necessary  to  secure  the  Union  from 
further  peril.  These  terms  were  eventually  defined  to  be  the 
cessation  of  resistance,  the  appointment  of  a  provisional  Gov- 
ernor, the  taking  of  the  oath  of  amnesty  (profTered  to  all  but 
a  certain  specified  class  of  leading  men)  ;  the  recognition  of 
the  permanent  freedom  of  the  blacks,  and  the  formation  of  a 
new  republican  form  of  government  by  the  State.  But  it  was 
expressly  announced  that  the  admission  of  Congressmen  and 
Senators  from  the  lately  seceded  States  rested,  not  with  the 
executive,  but  with  the  separate  houses  of  Congress. 

There  were  other  "doctrines"  and  "theories"  of  "reconstruc- 
tion," but  the  "Presidential  plan"  finally  prevailed.  By  appoint- 
ment of  President  Johnson,  the  Honorable  Benjamin  F.  Perry 
became  the  first  provisional  Governor  of  South  Carolina. 

"From  his  young  manhood  Colonel  Perry  had  taken  an  active 
part  in  politics,  and  had  served  in  the  legislature  of  his  State, 
and  was  a  member  of  the  Democratic  National  Convention 
which  met  in  Charleston  in  i860.  At  this  convention  Colonel 
Perry  refused  to  withdraw  with  the  rest  of  the  Southern 
members.  After  Lincoln's  election  in  November  of  that  year 
he  had  the  moral  and  physical  courage  to  declare  openly  and 
earnestly  against  Secession.  But  when  South  Carolina  acted, 
he  went  out  with  his  State.  Going  into  the  mountain  section 
of  Greenville  district,  where  the  Union  sentiment  was  very 
strong,  he  urged  the  people  to  follow  his  example.  The  effec- 
tiveness of  his  work  is  demonstrated  by  the  fact  that  as  brave 
Confederate  soldiers  as  were  in  the  army  went  from  among 
the  people  to  whom  Colonel  Perry  spoke."*  His  oldest  son, 
Colonel  William  Perry,  became  a  gallant  Confederate  soldier. 
Governor  Perry  held  the  office  of  District  Judge  of  the  Con- 
federate States  Court,  and  he  was  elected  to  the  United  States 
Senate  in  1866,  but  never  allowed  to  take  his  seat. 

When  on  June  13.  1865,  Colonel  B.  F.  Perry  became  pro- 
visional Governor  of  South  Carolina,  one  of  his  first  acts  was 

*Jno.  S.  Reynolds,  "Reconstruction  in  South  Carolina." 


ELLISON  CAPERS  123 

to  issue  the  call  for  a  convention,  in  Columbia,  the  following 
September.  This  convention  was  to  frame  a  Constitution  and 
put  the  new  government  in  motion  until  the  regular  meeting 
of  the  legislature.  The  Convention  ordered  an  election  for 
State  officers,  to  be  held  in  October.  James  L.  Orr  was  duly 
elected  Governor  of  South  Carolina. 

'Tn  this  the  first  reorganization  of  the  State  General  Capers 
was  made  Secretary  of  State,  and  so  served  for  two  years. 
But  the  deep  waters  through  which  he  and  his  people  had 
passed  quickened  in  him  the  germ  of  another  life  purpose. 
.  .  So  the  ministry  to  his  people,  to  which  a  life  such  as 
his  could  not  but  at  such  a  time  consecrate  and  devote  itself, 
naturally  sought  the  most  sacred  channels  of  the  Church.  It 
is  related  that,  when  he  notified  his  old  friend,  Governor  James 
L.  Orr,  of  his  determination  to  resign  his  office  of  Secretary 
of  State  in  order  to  enter  the  ministry  of  the  Church,  the 
Governor's  reply  w^as :  'You  will  be  a  fool  to  do  it.  A  inan 
with  your  war  record,  personal  magnetism,  and  genial  manners 
can  command  anything  from  the  people  they  have  to  give. 
You  can  be  Governor,  Senator,  or  anything  you  like.  You 
will  be  a  fool  to  give  up  all  this  to  become  a  preacher.'  "* 

In  the  days  of  "reconstruction"  there  w^ere  many  humilia- 
tions in  store  for  the  people  of  South  Carolina.  After  his 
"tour  of  inspection"  through  the  Southern  States  General 
U.  S.  Grant  protested  to  his  government  against  the  practice 
of  detailing  negro  soldiers  for  army  posts  throughout  the  late 
seceded  States.  He  said :  "The  presence  of  black  troops, 
lately  slaves,  demoralizes  labor  both  by  their  advice  and  by 
furnishing  in  their  camps  a  resort  for  the  freedmen  for  long 
distances  around.  White  troops  excite  no  opposition,  and 
therefore  a  small  number  of  them  can  maintain  order  in  a 
given  district." 

The  "black  troops"  in  the  regular  army,  of  which  General 
Grant  complained,  and  against  the  wickedness  and  folly  of 

*Dr.  W.  T.  Dubose,  in  Sewanee  Review. 


124  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

which  his  statesmanship,  magnanimity,  common-sense,  and 
Anglo-Saxon  blood  all  protested,  were  in  no  wise  so  formidable 
a  menace  to  the  peace  of  the  people  and  prosperity  of  the 
country  as  were  the  negro  militia  organized  throughout  the 
State  under  the  administration  of  Governor  Scott,  a  military 
governor  from  Ohio.  This  volunteer  army  of  blacks  was  one 
of  the  inevitable  results  of  "reconstruction  government." 

Under  the  "Provisional  Government"  and  the  administra- 
tion of  Governor  Orr,  the  government  of  the  State  had  been 
reconstructed  in  .a  legal  and  righteous  manner,  and  conditions 
indicated  a  speedy  return  to  the  happiness  and  prosperity  of 
ante-bellum  days.  Such  was  the  impression  General  Grant 
received  when  making  his  inspection  of  the  situation  in  the 
South.  In  his  report  he  states :  "My  observations  lead  me  to 
the  conclusion  that  the  citizens  of  the  Southern  States  are 
anxious  to  return  to  self-government  within  the  Union  as  soon 
as  possible;  that  while  reconstructing  they  want  and  require 
that  protection  from  the  government  which  they  think  is  re- 
quired by  the  government,  not  humiliating  to  them  as  citizens ; 
if  such  a  course  were  pointed  out  to  them  they  would  follow  it 
in  good  faith." 

The  report  of  the  Reconstruction  Committee  is  hardly  recon- 
cilable with  the  personal  observations  of  General  Grant.  After 
the  act  of  Congress  January,  1866,  declining  to  withdraw  the 
military  forces  from  the  South,  and  the  "Civil  Rights"  act  in 
the  following  April,  the  Reconstruction  Committee  reported 
as  the  conclusion  of  their  investigation:  "All  feeling  of  con- 
ciliation on  the  part  of  the  North  has  been  treated  with  con- 
tempt. Indeed,  the  bitterness  and  defiance  against  the  United 
States  have  been  unparalleled  in  the  history  of  the  world."  A 
wonderful  contradiction  of  the  statement  just  quoted  of  the 
Commanding  General  of  the  United  States  Army! 

The  Fourteenth  Amendment  put  the  government  of  the 
Southern  States  in  the  hands  of  the  national  Congress,  and 
its  members  were  to  declare  what  should  be  the  measure  of 
citizenship  in  them.     Under  Generals  Gillman,   Sickles,  and 


ELLISON  CAPERS  125 

Canby  the  military  authority  was  supreme  and  took  super- 
vision of  the  Hfe  and  Hberties  of  the  citizens  and  the  direction 
of  all  courts. 

It  was  the  golden  opportunity  for  aliens,  negroes,  and 
traitors  to  usurp  the  government.  A  Republican  convention 
was  called.  Two-thirds  of  its  members  were  negroes.  A  half 
of  the  remaining  third  were  "indigenous  to  the  soil,"  while 
New  York,  IMassachusetts,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Connecticut, 
Georgia,  Norway,  Sweden,  Germany,  and  Turkey  were  all 
represented  in  the  remaining  sixth.  R.  K.  Scott  was  nominated 
for  Governor  and  in  time  duly  elected. 

A  convention  of  the  leading  citizens  and  tax-payers  of  the 
State  assembled  in  Columbia  to  protest  against  the  Recon- 
struction acts,  as  well  as  the  outrages  and  usurpations  of  the 
new  government.  The  address  of  that  convention  concluded 
with  this  burning  appeal  : 

"What  do  these  Reconstruction  acts  propose?  Not  negro 
equality,  but  negro  supremacy ! 

"In  the  name,  then,  of  humanity  to  both  races ;  in  the  name 
of  citizenship  under  the  Constitution ;  in  the  name  of  a  common 
history  in  the  past;  in  the  name  of  our  Anglo-Saxon  race  and 
blood ;  in  the  name  of  the  civilization  of  the  nineteenth  century ; 
in  the  name  of  magnanimity  and  the  noble  instincts  of  man- 
hood; in  the  name  of  God  and  nature,  we  protest  against  these 
Reconstruction  acts  as  destructive  to  the  peace  of  society,  the 
prosperity  of  the  country,  and  the  greatness  and  grandeur  of 
our  common  future. 

"The  people  of  the  South  are  powerless  to  avert  the  impend- 
ing ruin.  We  have  been  overborne;  and  the  responsibility  to 
posterity  and  to  the  world  has  passed  into  other  hands." 

The  unimpeachable  evidence  of  Union  men  high  in  the  ser- 
vice of  the  National  Government,  as  well  as  the  protests  of 
the  citizens,  was  of  no  avail.  A  reign  of  terror  was  impend- 
ing. It  was  inevitable.  Men  "drunk  with  power"  could  not 
be  forced  to  a  realization  of  the  folly  of  their  course.  The 
negro  militia  was  the  worst  menace  to  the  peace  of  the  people. 


126  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

Nearly  every  county  in  the  State  had  its  company  of  black 
troops.  Their  arms  were  furnished  them  from  the  office  of 
the  adjutant  and  inspector-general.  Individually  and  col- 
lectively, this  insolent  soldiery  was  everywhere  in  evidence. 
They  demoralized  labor ;  they  controlled  elections ;  they 
assaulted  peaceable  citizens,  and  were  frequently  guilty  of 
high-handed  brutal  murder ;  they  outraged  defenseless  women 
and  terrorized  children.  In  this  reign  of  terror  the  criminal 
was  secure.  Negroes  held  high  office  in  the  county,  in  the 
legislature,  and  in  the  State  government.  White  citizens  were 
the  victims  of  ignorance,  brutality,  and  vandalism.  Anglo- 
Saxon  Americans  could  not  brook  the  black  man's  rule,  even 
though  the  army  of  the  National  Government  stood  doggedly 
behind  his  usurpation  of  power. 

In  1868  'The  Circle"  was  organized  in  the  upper  part  of 
South  Carolina.  Its  avowed  purpose  was  to  relieve  the  sick 
and  distressed,  to  protect  defenseless  women  and  children,  and 
to  render  benevolent  service.  But  in  the  "Black  Reign"  "The 
Circle"  took  its  Greek  name,  Ku  Klux.  and  thereafter  its  pur- 
pose and  scope  were  enlarged.  It  became  organised  self- 
defense.  Its  members  included  "minute  men,"  and  a  "vigilance 
committee."  Murder  and  outrage  were  on  the  increase.  The 
people  of  the  State  were  prostrate  and  powerless.  They  could 
not  cope  with  a  hostile  condition  in  the  State  and  a  hostile 
National  Government. 

For  the  overthrow  of  the  usurpers  a  more  invincible  force 
than  material  agencies  must  be  used.  The  Ku  Klux  offered 
the  remedy.  The  invisible  and  mysterious  empire  of  the 
Cyclops  was  hurled  against  the  organizers  of  plunder  and 
crime;  at  first  cautiously,  and  then  boldly.  With  long  white 
robes  covering  rider  and  horse,  armed  with  revolvers  and 
sounding  the  "signal  whistle,"  the  Ku  Klux  "operated"  at 
night.  They  selected  night  as  the  time  for  "work"  not  pri- 
marily that  darkness  might  hide  their  deeds,  but  that  the 
mystery  and  fear  of  the  unseen  might  contribute  to  their  side 
in  so  unequal  a  contest.     Later,  when  there  were  recurring 


ELLISON  CAPERS  127 

disturbances  and  lawless  acts,  the  Ku  Klux  in  open  day  rode 
in  solemn  procession  through  town  or  district.  The  effect 
was  magical.  The  mere  word  "Ku  Klux"  or  the  sound  of 
the  "signal  whistle"  became  a  terror  to  the  guilty.  Their 
imagination  became  invested  with  the  grim  images  of  retribu- 
tion. When !  how !  where !  was  this  terrible  unseen  power 
to  strike?  Who  would  be  the  next  victim?  Incendiary 
negroes,  criminals,  and  disturbers  of  the  peace  were  warned 
to  "mend  their  ways,"  to  cease  their  lawless  conduct.  When 
persisting  in  their  course,  they  paid  the  penalty  of  chastise- 
ment or  death.  In  the  morning  their  neighbors  viewed  the  work 
of  the  previous  night,  and  read  the  solemn  warning  of  the 
Ku  Klux.  Offensive  negroes  holding  office  were  served  with 
notice  to  resign  by  a  given  time.  Instantly  their  resignations 
were  forthcoming.  The  powers  of  darkness  appalled  those 
who  had  been  impregnable  in  riotous  and  insolent  crime. 

There  is  but  one  result  of  mob  law.  However  worthy  the 
motives  and  however  dire  the  necessity  which  employs  it,  the 
ultimate  result  is  anarchy.  Republicans,  negroes,  and 
some  Democrats  as  well,  took  advantage  of  the  Ku  Klux 
methods  of  self-defense,  and,  wearing  their  habit,  they  com- 
mitted outrageous  depredations  in  the  name  and  under  the 
seal  of  Ku  Klux.  It  was  time  that  all  good  men  in  the  State 
should  organize  against  irresponsible  violence. 

During  the  eight  years  of  usurpation  under  Governors 
Scott,  Moses,  Patterson,  and  Chamberlain  many  millions  of 
dollars  were  misappropriated.  The  taxes  of  the  people  passed 
into  the  pockets  of  political  leaders  and  their  allies.  Fabulous 
amounts  were  charged  as  items  for  "furnishing  the  Capitol 
and  Governor's  Mansion."  Bonds  were  issued  far  in  excess 
of  the  amounts  authorized.  The  State  debt,  the  manipulation 
of  the  Greenville  and  Columbia  railroad,  the  Blue  Ridge 
scrip,  were  all  rank  and  notorious  scandals.  The  most  flagrant 
fraud  was  that  of  the  public  printing.  For  the  seventy-eight 
years  previous  to  Reconstruction  rule  the  State  had  paid 
something  like  seven  hundred  thousand  dollars  for  its  printing 


128  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

bill.  In  the  eight  years  of  Reconstruction  one  million  three 
hundred  thousand  dollars  was  charged  up  to  "Public  Printing." 
The  renaissance  of  civic  righteousness  was  ushered  in  with 
the  triumph  of  the  Democratic  Party  in  1876,  when  General 
Wade  Hampton  became  Governor  of  South  Carolina,  and  the 
State  was  redeemed.  A  "New  South"  was  to  evolve  from 
similar  triumphs  in  all  of  the  Southern  States. 


CHAPTER  XII 

GENERAL  CAPERS  ENTERS  THE   CHURCH 

There  is  a  striking  similarity  between  soldierly  virtues  and 
Christian  graces.  Obedience,  endurance,  fortitude,  courage, 
faith,  charity,  and  self-sacrifice  are  all  soldierly  qualities;  they 
are  also  Christian  graces.  But  like  other  virtues,  they  reach 
perfection  only  when  translated  to  the  higher  and  nobler  sphere 
of  Christian  living  and  are  consecrated  to  God. 

When  the  soldier  retires  from  the  tented  field  and  lays  his 
armor  by,  to  put  on  the  panoply  of  God,  and  enlisting  in  a 
higher  and  holier  warfare,  he  has  already  acquired  an  experi- 
ence and  discipline  highly  profitable  to  a  "warrior  of  God." 

If  we  contemplate  the  militant  Christian,  our  minds  at 
once  revert  to  Loyola  and  other  soldier-priests  who  led  the 
van  when  the  Church  went  to  war  against  heretic  and  infidel. 
But  we  need  not  go  back  to  that  period.  The  Civil  War 
furnishes  numerous  examples.  The  bishop  of  the  diocese  of 
Louisiana,  Leonidas  Polk,  responded  to  the  demand  made  upon 
him  by  the  President  of  the  Confederacy,  and  laid  aside  his 
episcopal  robes  to  don  the  trappings  of  a  soldier;  he  put  up  the 
Shepherd's  staff  and  drew  his  sword.  He  had  been  educated 
a  soldier,  his  military  talents  were  of  a  high  order,  his  country 
called  him  to  her  defense,  and  he  agreed  to  accept  a  com- 
mission until  the  President  could  find  someone  to  take  his 
place,  and  stated  that  he  would  then  return  to  "the  care  of  all 
the  churches"  m  his  beloved  diocese.  Upon  one  occasion  he 
was  interrogated  as  to  the  propriety  of  his  conduct.  He  gave 
the  following  unanswerable,  if  homely  illustration:  "Well, 
if  my  house  were  on  fire  and  I  were  in  the  pulpit  I  would  lay 

129 


I30  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

aside  my  robes  and  go  fight  the  fire,  and  when  the  fire  was 
out  I  would  return  to  my  clerical  duties.  Now,  my  friend,  my 
house  is  on  fire.  My  country  is  invaded.  There  is  an  impera- 
tive and  immediate  need  for  help.  When  the  fire  is  out,  I 
shall  return  to  my  work." 

And  it  is  remarkable  how  many  Confederate  soldiers  be- 
came ministers  of  the  gospel.  Many  of  this  number  were 
elevated  to  the  episcopate.  We  now  recall  Bishop  Dudley,  of 
Kentucky;  Bishop  Peterkin.  of  West  Virginia;  Bishop  New- 
ton, of  Virginia;  and  the  soldier-chaplain.  Bishop  Quintard, 
of  Tennessee,  as  well  as  the  subject  of  this  volume.  Bishop 
Capers,  of  the  diocese  of  South  Carolina. 

Though  entering  the  ministry  late  in  life,  Ellison  Capers 
was  from  his  boyhood  a  Christian  soldier. 

In  the  spring  of  1857  Charleston,  S.  C,  was  visited  by  a 
religious  awakening.  This  revival  was  not  centered  in  the 
work  of  any  one  church  or  denomination,  but  pervaded  the  en- 
tire city.  In  his  memoir  Colonel  Henry  D.  Capers  tells  us  that 
his  brother  Ellison  manifested  a  deep  interest  in  this  religious 
movement,  and  in  company  with  his  venerable  mother  was  a 
regular  attendant  upon  the  services  throughout  the  revival. 
At  his  graduation,  his  brother.  General  Francis  Capers,  de- 
livered the  annual  address,  which  made  a  profound  impression 
on  Cadet  Ellison  Capers,  and  we  have  it  upon  his  testimony 
that  he  never  forgot  the  counsel  then  given. 

From  a  pocket  diary  of  1857,  when  Ellison  Capers  was  but 
twenty-two  years  of  age,  we  glean  the  following : 

'T  held  service  in  the  morning  for  the  negroes  of  Mrs. 
Palmer,  and  in  the  afternoon  preached  to  the  negroes  at 
Dr.  Peter  Palmer's.  Text:  St.  Luke  9:2."  In  the  selec- 
tion of  this  text  he  made  an  unconscious  prophecy  of  his  own 
life's  work. 

About  this  time  he  entered  the  following  lines  in  his  diary : 


ELLISON  CAPERS  131 

"The  woes   of  life!     Why  moan   their  weight? 
God  hath  sent  them,  and  whate'er  the  freight 
With  which  he  loads  thy  back, 
Sail  on  or  sink.   His  will  be  done." 

In  those  early  years  there  are  frequent  entries  in  his  diary 
of  moneys  paid  out  for  "Lottie's  charities"  and  for  "my 
charities." 

June  10 — To-morrow  rest!  At  least  such  as  this  world 
affords.  Lottie  and  I  rode  out  to  Clifton;  pleasant  evening. 
Talked  over  "the  position  of  the  armies"  in  Europe  with 
Henry.     May  the  God  of  battles  keep  the  right ! 

July  24 — Attended  Sunday-school  this  morning.     Lesson, 

third  chapter  of  Daniel.     Hear  Mr.  B.  and  Mr.  Bolles 

in  afternoon.  At  night  Mr.  Ewing  preached  in  our  church 
and  spent  the  most  of  the  day  with  us. 

July  25 — Hurrah!  my  dear  mother  and  brother  Theodotus 
arrived  at  8 130  p.  m.  May  God  spare  my  dear  mother  to 
me   for  many  years. 

July  26 — Attended  prayer  meeting.  Mother  and  I  went 
together ;  Odd  and  my  Lottie.  How  soon  the  ties  which 
hold  us  here  are  broken !  Together  to-day,  separated  to- 
morrow ;  Heaven  is  Home ! 

July  30 — Lot  and  I  rode  down  to  Columbia.  Mother  and  I 
visited  Father's  grave,  and  here  where  we  played  in  childhood 
we  marked  a  spot  in  which  to  lay  us  down  when  we  shall  join 
the  loved  ones  gone. 

July  31 — Still  at  Columbia.  Very  happy  with  my  friends, 
and  above  all  with  my  mother,  wife,  and  brother.  This  Sab- 
bath will  be  long  remembered  by  me.  How  sweet  to  meet  the 
loved  ones  and  how  grateful  to  the  heart  to  be  among  your 
friends.  .  .  .  May  God  bless  my  dear  brother  and  make 
him  a  useful  man  in  society  and  give  him  a  home  in  heaven." 

His  letter  of  resignation  to  the  president  of  Winnsboro 
Academy  concludes :     "May  the  blessings  of  Heaven  attend 


132  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

your  future  efforts  in  the  cause  of  education,  and  the  love  of 
God  abide  with  you  and  yours  forever." 

While  in  the  army  his  letters  to  Mrs.  Capers  refer  to  the 
profanity  of  the  troops,  which  was  a  source  of  pain  to  him. 
After  a  victory  he  writes  as  follows  to  his  wife: 

"To  His  glorious  name  be  all  the  praise  and  glory!  .  .  . 
To  our  Father  in  Heaven  I  trust  you  and  our  little  ones." 

"The  men  of  the  regiment,  brigade,  and  division  profane 
the  name  of  God  every  hour  in  the  day.  The  profanity  of  the 
army  is  awful  to  contemplate,  both  among  officers  and  men. 
How  powerful  is  the  force  of  a  bad  example!     My  friend 

S .  who  never  defiled  his  lips  with  oaths,  has  come  into 

the  habit  of  saying  "Hell !"  and  "Damn !"  as  readily  as  G 

or  W .     Watchfulness  and  prayer  alone  will  preserve  us 

amid  such  a  series  of  temptations ;  and  yet  I  repeat  what  I 
have  before  said,  that  this  army  life  is  a  grand  school  for  the 
cultivation  and  exercise  of  the  sublime  virtues  of  patience  and 
sacrifice." 

Trying  to  comfort  Mrs.  Capers  after  a  succession  of  re- 
verses, he  writes : 

"Should  this  make  us  unhappy  or  discontented,  for  it  is  the 
ordination  of  the  good  and  gracious  God,  who  had  prepared 
for  us  another  and  a  better  world.  There  he  will  wipe  away 
all  tears  from  our  eyes,  and  no  more  death  or  any  crying, 
neither  shall  there  be  any  pain  in  that  blessed  home.  And 
there  will  be  no  night  there,  nor  light  of  the  sun  or  moon,  for 
the  'bright  and  morning  star,'  the  Lamb,  shall  be  the  light 
thereof.  And,  my  angel,  this  beautiful  happy  home  is  prom- 
ised to  those  who  'overcome'  the  difficulties  of  this  present 
life.  That  you  and  I  may  one  day  inherit  a  place  in  this  happy 
home  is  ever  the  prayer  of  your  dear  Ellie.  I  am  quite  well, 
but  don't  think  I  am  as  stout  as  when  you  saw  me  last." 

Again  quoting  from  Bishop  Capers'  journal,  under  date  of 
1872,  we  read: 


ELLISON  CAPERS  133 

March  8 — Read  the  account  of  Bishop  Patterson's  massacre 
by  the  savages  of  Santa  Cruz  Islands.  Such  a  Hfe  and  such  a 
death  make  us  feel  the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who 
for  our  sakes  gave  Himself  for  us. 

March  10 — Read  a  sketch  of  Bishop  Patterson  and  a  letter 
from  him  in  which  he  describes  a  visit  to  Santa  Cruz  Islands 
in  1864,  when  two  noble  lads  who  pulled  his  boat  were  mor- 
tally wounded  by  arrows  shot  at  him.  My  heart  was  deeply 
affected  by  this  noble  self-sacrifice  for  the  well-being  of  others 
and  the  life  of  the  Church.  Yet  a  reverend  Presbyterian 
brother,  who  was  present  at  the  service,  told  me  after 
the  service  that  a  gentleman  of  the  congregation  remarked : 
"What  a  useless  sacrifice !"  Alas !  is  this  the  way  our 
labor  of  love  is  counted?  Yes,  but  not  so  with  all.  And 
because  there  is  that  in  the  human  heart  which  looks  upon 
such  a  sacrifice  as  our  dear  Lord's  as  useless,  therefore  it  was 
needed,  and  ours  is  needed  to  preserve  the  Church  and  save 
our  brethren. 

The  following  letters  written  in  November,  1891,  bring  to 
light  an  interesting  incident  which  shows  the  concern  Colonel 
Capers  felt  for  the  spiritual  welfare  of  his  soldiers. 

Charleston,  S.  C, 

Nov.  5,  1891. 
Rev.  E.  Capers, 

Columbia,  S.  C. 
Dear  Colonel:  I  inclose  with  this  a  letter  received  by  me  a 
short  time  since  from  Rowlinski,  which  fully  explains  what 
he  wishes.  I  also  inclose  the  little  Testament  therein  referred 
to,  so  that  you  may  gratify  his  commendable  wish.  He  was 
a  real  good  fellow,  discharging  his  duty  best  he  knew  how 
during  the  changing  fortunes  of  our  service  and  evinces  now 
the  never  dying  spirit  that  sustained  many  of  us  so  long,  under 
untold  public  as  well  as  personal  trials  and  difficulties.  I  have 
endeavored  to  please  him  with  a  short  inscription  in  his  book, 


134  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

and  leave  it  with  you  to  add  more  as  he  expects.  To  avoid 
delay  and  expense  you  had  better  send  the  package  directly  to 
him,  and  I  have  accordingly  advised  him  you  would  do  so. 

Faithfully  yours, 

T.  H.  Steinmeyer. 

Ponce  Park  P.  O.,  Volusia  County,  Florida. 
Mr.  T.  H.  Steinmeyer. 

Sir:  I  sent  to  Messrs.  Walker,  Evans  &  Cogswell  a  small 
Testament  to  bind.  I  got  it  from  General  Ellison  Capers 
after  the  battle  of  Chickamauga ;  it  had  been  stolen,  but  got 
it  back.  The  blank  leaves,  on  which  Colonel  Ellison  Capers' 
writing  was,  was  lost.  On  the  front  leaf  was  written :  "To 
private  William  Rowlinski.  with  the  wish  of  his  Colonel  that 
he  may  make  as  cheerful  a  soldier  of  the  Cross  as  he  does  of 
his  Regiment.- — Ellison  Capers  Comd.  24th  S.  C.  V."  I  want 
you  to  send  the  Testament  to  Colonel  Ellison  Capers,  for  him 
to  write  the  same  as  it  was,  and  return  to  me  the  Testament, 
to  leave  to  my  children  when  I  am  gone.  There  were  several 
more  passages  from  the  Bible  in  it,  written  by  the  colonel, 
but  have  been  torn  out.  I  want  you  to  write  something  in  it, 
so  that  you  will  be  remembered,  when  I  am  dead  and  gone, 
by  my  children.  Do  not  disappoint  me.  What  the  expenses 
will  be  I  will  cheerfully  make  up  to  you.  By  so  doing. 
You  will  oblige, 

Very  respectfully, 

William  Rowlinski. 

General  Capers  formally  began  his  ministry  in  Greenville, 
S.  C,  as  rector  of  Christ  Church  parish.  Previous  to  this, 
while  farming  near  Anderson,  he  had,  upon  the  advice  of  his 
bishop,  accepted  the  invitation  of  the  vestry  of  Grace  Church, 
to  serve  that  congregation  as  lay  reader,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Elliott 
having  resigned  the  rectorship.  During  his  service  there  he 
so  commended  himself  to  that  church  and  people  that  the 
larger  and  more  important  parish  of  Christ  Church,  Green- 


ELLISON  CAPERS  135 

ville.  secured  his  consent,  and  that  of  Bishop  Davis,  to  serve 
it  in  a  similar  capacity  until  ordained  deacon.  Then  he  was 
to  assume  charge  of  the  parish  as  rector. 

Greenville,  S.  C.  is  in  the  northern  part  of  the  State  and 
nestles  close  to  the  foot  of  Paris  Mountain,  a  spur  of  the 
Blue  Ridge  Range.  Very  early  in  the  annals  of  the  State 
this  little  town  had  won  an  enviable  reputation  as  a  summer 
and  health  resort.  Its  high  altitude  and  invigorating  climate ;  its 
rolling  hills  and  purpling  mountains ;  its  sparkling  streams  and 
cool  breezes,  were  all  very  inviting  during  the  hot  season, 
when  the  wealthy  and  aristocratic  families  from  the  coast 
would  flock  to  this  delightful  refuge  from  the  heat  and  fevers 
of  the  low  country. 

South  Carolina,  like  all  other  coast  States  of  the  Colonial 
period,  flourished  first  in  her  seaport  towns.  Their  export 
trade  and  close  relation  with  the  mother  country  tended  to 
make  of  these  shipping  points  not  merely  marts  of  trade,  but 
centers  of  culture  and  fashion  as  well.  The  planter,  with  his 
broad  acres  rich  in  rice  and  cotton,  had  the  money,  leisure, 
and  ambition  to  cultivate  himself.  He  read  the  ancient  classics 
and  was  apt  in  the  polite  learning  of  the  day.  He  was  also 
very  careful  that  his  children  should  have  all  advantages  of- 
fered at  home  and,  if  possible,  a  finished  education  abroad. 
Prior  to  the  war  the  planter  was  more  frequently  than  now  a 
student  of  statecraft  and  philosophy.  He  was,  above  all,  a 
patriot.  Proud  of  his  ancestry,  and  ambitious  to  maintain 
himself  and  family  with  becoming  dignity,  "the  gentleman 
from  the  low  country"  was  a  type  of  a  charming  civilization 
that  has  now  passed  away. 

But  with  all  his  excellences  of  culture,  courage,  and  man- 
liness,— often  ornamented  and  strengthened-  by  Christian 
graces, — he  was  somewhat  narrow  and  short-sighted  when 
he  came  to  estimate  the  worth  and  worthiness  of  the  man 
from  the  interior  of  the  State,  or  what  is  generally  known  as 
the  "up-country."  The  environment  of  his  life  tended  to 
make  him  so, 


136  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

In  the  up-country  the  spirit  of  the  people  was  more  inde- 
pendent of  traditions ;  they  cared  Httle  for  pompous  cere- 
monies and  were  less  punctilious  in  observing  the  strict  usages 
of  society.  The  up-country  man  was  more  democratic  and 
progressive,  and,  generally  speaking,  less  cultured  and  with 
fewer  opportunities  for  higher  education.  But  the  up-country 
was  not  a  "fixed  star."  It  progressed  in  every  way,  and  insti- 
tutions of  learning  rapidly  sprang  up  on  every  hand.  The 
low-country  man  frequently  lost  sight  of  this  when  he  be- 
gan to  estimate  the  men  or  resources  of  the  "other  section" 
of  his  State.  And  yet  even  from  the  Colonial  period  the  up- 
country  gave  to  Carolina  men  of  high  metal,  noble  aspira- 
tions, and  great  qualities  for  leadership.  John  C.  Calhoun, 
and,  later,  Benjamin  F.  Perry  and  James  L.  Orr  were 
sagacious  leaders  from  that  section  of  the  State. 

However,  during  the  summer  months  in  this  beautiful  Pied- 
mont region  of  South  Carolina  the  people  from  low-country 
and  up-country  intermingled  in  good  fellowship,  and  this 
opportunity  for  acquaintance  was  productive  of  great  good 
and  promoted  a  better  understanding  among  them.  There 
was  intermarriage  and  frequent  exchange  of  residence,  all 
of  which  in  time  gave  to  the  people  of  South  Carolina  a  whole- 
some solidarity. 

At  an  early  period,  when  missionary  work  was  begun  in 
Greenville,  many  prominent  families  from  the  low-country 
gave  the  mission  their  support,  as  did  those  native  to  the  little 
town,  as  well  as  representative  people  who  had  come  from 
other  sections  of  the  State.  There  were  also  many  poor  in 
the  parish.  Christ  Church,  Greenville,  was  already  a  cosmo- 
politan parish  in  a  cosmopolitan  community.  With  but  a 
few  thousand  inhabitants,  Greenville  was  by  no  means  a 
primitive  mountain  town.  When  in  1866  this  parish  became 
vacant,  the  evident  need  was  for  a  man  of  culture,  personal 
character,  devotion,  and  the  qualities  of  leadership.  The  most 
distressing  circumstances  had  recently  terminated  in  the  trial  of 
their  rector.  This  disorganized  and  demoralized  the  little  con- 


ELLISON  CAPERS  137 

gregation,  and  brought  reproach  upon  it  in  the  community. 
Such  circumstances  emphasized  the  necessity  of  securing  as 
rector  a  man  whom  everybody  knew  well  enough  to  trust  from 
the  very  beginning  of  his  ministry. 

At  the  time  of  which  we  write  General  Ellison  Capers — 
though  an  avowed  candidate  for  the  ministry  and  reading  for 
orders  under  the  personal  direction  of  the  bishop  of  the 
diocese — was  Secretary  of  State  of  South  Carolina.  He  ac- 
cepted the  call  to  Christ  Church,  and  held  his  first  service  in 
that  church  on  the  third  Sunday  in  Advent,  1866. 

Methodical  habits  are  not  usual  with  persons  of  genial  and 
jovial  temperaments.  The  social  instinct  and  active  disposi- 
tion are  somehow  ground  out  by  slavery  to  method.  Then, 
too,  the  methodical  man  is  seldom  imaginative.  Orators, 
musicians,  and  artists  are  not  infrequently  careless  in  business 
habits. 

In  the  Rev.  Ellison  Capers  these  temperamentally  opposed 
characteristics  were  very  evenly  balanced.  From  the  begin- 
ning of  his  ministry  he  kept  a  careful  record  of  his  official 
services,  while  the  personal  notes  and  comments  inserted  from 
time  to  time  saved  his  journal  from  deadly  dullness,  and  also 
throws  a  light  upon  the  personality  of  the  man. 

From  the  entries  of  this  journal,  which  was  only  kept  for 
his  use  and  for  his  personal  supervision,  it  is  seen  how  Mr. 
Capers  was  indeed  a  true  shepherd  of  the  sheep,  and  how  his 
love  and  sympathy  went  out  to  the  poor  of  the  parish,  and 
how  appreciative  he  was  of  the  kindness  of  his  friends.  His 
love  for  children  was  proverbial  and  characterized  him 
throughout  life.  In  February,  1870,  we  find  this  note  in 
his  journal : 

"Buried  Eva  Fritz.  Eva  was  the  only  child  of  a  widowed 
mother.  She  was  an  amiable,  lovely  child,  cheerful  and  happy ; 
the  first  one  of  the  children  of  my  charge  whom  the  Chief 
Shepherd  has  taken  to  Himself.     Dear  little  Eva!" 

In  his  private  diary  his  habit  was  to  devote  a  page  'Tn 


138  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

Memoriam"  to  a  friend  or  a  benefactor  of  the  parish.  These 
were  expressions  of  appreciation  of  character  and  friendship. 
For  example: 

November  19,  1869. — • 

In    Memoriam. 

Buried  my  valued   friend 

Dr.   William   Michael  at  3:30  p.    m. 

He  breathed  his  last  on  Wednesday,  17th  inst. 

Born   May   loth,    1795. 

Died   Nov.    17th,    1865. 

I    hold    his    memory    in    grateful    remembrance.      Converted 

to   Christ  by  the  grace   of   God   under  my   father's   ministry, 

he  was  my  brother  in  Christian  sympathy,  my  true  and  valued 

friend,  my  genial  associate  and  a  blessing  to  my   family. 

May  we  meet  in   Heaven ! 

One  Other  of  these  personal  touches  in  his  journal : 

Sacred  to  the  memory  of 
Miss    Martha    McCall, 
who  died  in  the  comfort  of  the  Christian's  faith,  on  the  — 
day  of  July,   1872,  having  lived  84  years. 

Miss  McCall  was  a  cheerful,  gentle  old  lady,  whose  kind 
love  and  confidence   I   had,   and  whose   Christian   spirit  was 
always  an  example  of  instruction  and  comfort  to  me. 
"I   am  in  perfect   peace." 

Mr.  Capers  served  the  parish  as  a  lay  reader  for  five 
months,  and  seems  to  have  read  largely  from  Frederick  W. 
Robinson's  sermons.  He  was  ordained  to  the  diaconate  on 
Friday,  May  3,  in  St.  Luke's  Church,  Charleston.  The  Rev. 
W.  B.  W.  Howe — afterward  the  beloved  Bishop  of  South 
Carolina,  and  the  valued  friend  of  Mr.  Capers — read  the 
service,,  while  the  candidate's  brother-in-law,  the  Rev.  P.  F. 
Stevens,  preached  the  sermon,  taking  as  his  text  II  Timothy 
4.2:    "Preach  the  word." 

On  the  fourteenth  Sunday  after  Trinity — being  the  13th  of 
September.  1867 — ^t  Abbeville,  S.  C,  the  Rev.  Ellison 
Capers  was  advanced  to  the  priesthood, 


ELLISON  CAPERS  139 

His  ministry  was  an  exceedingly  active  one.  Sunday  ser- 
vices morning  and  afternoon  at  Christ  Church,  while  at  night 
he  preached  regularly  to  the  negroes.  He  organized  a  Bible 
class  to  meet  on  Tuesdays,  and  a  similar  class  for  men  on 
Sunday  mornings,  and  during  the  week  held  regular  services. 
He  was  a  "Prayer  Book  Churchman,"  and  held  the  services 
on  Saints'  Days  and  other  days  regularly,  as  appointed  in  the 
Calendar  of  the  Prayer  Book.  During  Lent  the  records  show 
daily  service,  while  during  Passion  Week  services  were  held 
morning  and  evening. 

Greenville  was  a  "factory  town."  To  these  people  Mr. 
Capers  was  a  true  shepherd.  In  this  work  he  was  loyally 
assisted  by  his  devoted  wife.  Greenville  was  also  a  summer  and 
health  resort,  and  those  who  have  labored  in  such  parishes 
know  the  incessant  demands  to  visit  the  sick  and  the  "stranger 
within  the  gates"  made  upon  a  clergyman's  time. 

In  addition  to  the  burdens  of  his  own  parish,  with  four 
services  a  week  and  the  conduct  of  two  Bible  classes,  we  find 
repeated  records  in  his  register  of  services  at  night,  as  well 
as  upon  special  occasions  when  officiating  in  the  different 
churches  in  the  town. 

The  vicissitudes  of  war  had  tended  to  minimize  the  im- 
portance of  theological  controversies  and  denominational 
antagonisms  among  the  people.  Common  experiences,  com- 
mon trials,  and  the  loss  of  a  Cause  equally  dear  to  all  served 
to  bind  the  people  more  closely  together,  emphasizing  the 
common  bond  of  their  common  faith.  In  a  sense  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Capers  was  "General  Capers"  to  the  community.  He 
belonged  to  them  all ;  they  all  claimed  his  services ;  they  all 
looked  to  him  for  advice  and  help,  encouragement  and  sym- 
pathy, and  in  a  frank  and  unostentatious  manner  he  endeav- 
ored to  comply  with  their  appreciative  demands. 

However,  as  the  demands  of  his  own  parish  increased,  as 
the  parish  grew  and  strengthened,  and  as  the  burden  of  the 
missionary  enterprises  in  the  surrounding  counties  devolved 
upon  him,  he  appears  less  frequently  in  the  pulpits  of  other 


140  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

churches,  and  there  are  correspondingly  more  frequent  notices 
of  mission  services  in  adjoining  communities. 

In  1870  a  convocation  for  the  "up-country"  was  formed 
by  a  few  clergy  to  look  after  mission  work  from  Abbeville 
to  the  Blue  Ridge  Mountains.  In  this  self-sacrificing  and 
noble  work  the  Rev.  Mr.  Capers  bore  his  full  share  of  the 
burden. 

In  pursuing  the  very  interesting  record  of  his  early  ministry, 
his  development  as  a  preacher  is  of  special  interest.  The 
first  year  or  two  of  his  ministry  his  sermons  were  largely  Old 
Testament  character  studies.  Then  followed  lectures  upon 
the  Epistles  and  the  parables  of  Our  Lord.  The  sermons 
were  more  or  less  pictorial  and  exhortatory.  Later  the 
preacher  begins  to  speak  from  the  experiences  of  his  own 
life  and  to  analyze  more  carefully  the  laws  of  the 
Christian  life.  His  sermons  run  more  frequently  along 
the  lines  of  "Christian  service,"  "Christian  humility," 
"Christian  patience,"  "Christian  peace,"  "Needless  fears," 
"The  Christian's  responsibility,"  "The  spirit  of  truth," 
"Obedience  proven  in  love."  In  his  sermon  before  the  Con- 
vention in  Columbia  in  1879  his  subject  was:  "Need  of  a 
deeper  conviction  and  the  power  of  a  consecrated  ministry." 

The  concise  and  business-like  record  he  kept  of  his  income 
and  expenses  reflects  another  side  of  his  character.  It  shows 
how  in  these  years  of  hard  service  and  small  income  he  had 
stood  on  the  Mount  of  Transfiguration  and  also  prayed  in  the 
shadow  of  the  Cross.  Throughout  his  entire  ministry  in 
Greenville,  covering  a  period  of  twenty  years,  he  taught  at 
intervals  in  the  colleges  of  the  town,  to  augment  his  salary. 
He  taught  in  the  Greenville  Female  College ;  the  Greenville 
Military  Academy,  and  in  the  absence  of  Professor  Judson 
filled  his  chair  in  mathematics  in  Furman  University.  He 
sacrificed  himself  in  all  ways  and  used  every  opportunity  to 
free  himself  from  debt  and  maintain  his  independence.  Those 
similarly  placed  can  appreciate  how  hard  the  struggle  was. 
His  generosity,  his  impulsiveness,  and  his  charity  frequently 


ELLISON  CAPERS  141 

outran  his  judgment,  and  we  find  him.  out  of  all  proportion  to 
his  income,  giving  to  worthy  and  unworthy  objects. 

Mr.  Capers  had  a  most  tactful  and  attractive  way  of  dealing 
with  young  men.  While  never  condoning  sin,  he  was  lenient 
toward  youthful  follies.  He  led,  rather  than  drove  youth 
from  the  paths  of  indiscretion.  Stern  or  gentle,  as  occasion 
demanded,  a  reproof  given  by  him  was  seldom  without  the 
happiest  results. 

During  the  first  years  of  his  ministry  in  Greenville  he  was 
in  frequent  demand  to  officiate  for  friends  and  former  parish- 
ioners in  Anderson.  We  have  in  mind  a  wedding,  the  bride 
residing  in  Anderson  and  the  groom  a  young  man  of  Green- 
ville. The  story  as  recently  related  to  the  writer  by  one  of  the 
party  is  about  as  follows : 

"General  Capers,  having  gone  over  to  Anderson  to  marry 
two  of  my  friends,  was  present  at  the  bridal  supper.  The 
custom  of  serving  wine  upon  such  occasions  then  was  more 
general  than  nowadays.  Before  the  supper  I  had  been  drink- 
ing some,  and  therefore  the  champagne  affected  me.  'The 
General'  had  his  eye  on  me.  He  was  uneasy  on  my  account, 
and  for  the  sake  of  the  company,  yet  he  neither  did  nor  said 
anything  to  cause  embarrassment.  Finally  beckoning  to  me 
with  his  finger,  as  I  went  to  him  he  said  in  a  quiet  but  audible 

voice :    'T ,  I  would  like  mighty  well  to  have  a  smoke. 

Have  you  a  cigar?'  Upon  my  replying  in  the  affirmative, 
and  handing  him  one,  he  suggested  that  we  go  out  on  the 
piazza  and  smoke.  I  was  flattered  by  this  invitation.  He 
began  at  once  to  relate  the  most  interesting  reminiscences  of 
his  boyhood  in  Anderson,  and  then  branched  off  on  'war 
stories,'  relating  personal  experiences.  Thus  we  sat  and 
smoked  for  an  hour,  until  the  fresh  air  and  'cessation 
of  hostilities'  had  done  their  work.  In  a  natural  manner  he 
suggested  that  we  rejoin  the  guests,  who  had  withdrawn  to 
the  parlors.  The  result  of  his  goodness  and  thought  for  me 
was  that  I  was  'in  shape'  for  the  wedding  next  morning." 

Another  incident.     An  infant  was  to  be  baptized  during 


142  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

morning  prayer,  as  directed  by  the  rubrics.  Just  before  the 
service  the  party  arrived,  when,  to  Mr.  Capers'  surprise  and 
distress,  he  learned  that  a  young  man,  noted  for  his  "sporting 
procHvities"  and  dissipated  habits,  as  well  as  his  bonhommie, 
was  to  be  the  child's  godfather.  What  was  the  clergyman  to 
do?  The  hour  had  arrived,  the  people  were  there.  The 
prospective  sponsor,  with  his  silk  hat  and  Prince  Albert  coat, 
was  especially  in  evidence.  Mr.  Capers  sent  for  this  young 
man.  and  thus  addressed  him :  "Old  fellow,  whatever  your 
faults  may  be,  I  know  you  are  a  sincere  man.  Therefore,  I 
am  going  to  ask  you  to  sit  down  here  and  read  over  the  prom- 
ises you  will  have  to  make,  and  the  statement  of  faith  re- 
quired of  you,  W'hen  you  become  a  sponsor  for  this  child. 
During  the  singing  of  the  first  hymn  I  will  come  back  into 
the  vestry  room,  and  then  you  can  tell  me  if  under  the  cir- 
cumstances you  are  willing  to  assume  the  obligation."  When 
he  returned,  M handed  him  back  the  prayer  book,  say- 
ing :  "General,  I  am  against  the  proposition.  You  are  right. 
I  had  no  idea  I  was  going  to  put  the  Church  in  such  a  position 

and  make  such  a  fool  of  myself."     "But  some  day,  M , 

I  hope  you  may  be  a  sponsor  within  the  spirit  and  require- 
ment of  the  rubrics,"  was  the  rector's  reply. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

NINE  YEARS  AT  CHRIST  CHURCH,  GREENVILLE 

From  the  beginning  of  his  ministry  "General  Capers"  was 
recognized  as  a  leader  in  the  work  of  the  diocese,  and  his 
influence  was  felt  throughout  the  State.  Just  prior  to  the  War, 
and  during  the  first  decade  following,  the  literary  societies  of 
schools  and  colleges  occupied  a  more  dignified  relation  to  the 
work  of  the  college,  and  wielded  a  more  extensive  influence 
than  they  do  in  modern  times.  The  records  in  the  old  scrap 
book  before  us  show  "General  Capers"  to  have  been  "unani- 
mously elected  an  honorary  member"  of  a  majority  of  such 
societies  throughout  the  State.  Institutions  of  learning  for 
girls  and  young  women  appear  to  have  been  equally  zealous 
in  according  him  such  recognition.  He  was  in  constant  de- 
mand as  "Commencement  orator." 

Each  year  of  his  ministry  in  Greenville  he  was  the  recipient 
of  calls  to  larger  and  more  influential  parishes  than  Christ 
Church.  In  1874  the  Rev.  Mr.  Dudley,  rector  of  Christ 
Church,  Baltimore,  Md.,  was  elevated  to  the  episcopate,  and 
Mr.  Capers  was  offered  the  rectorship  of  that  parish.  In  urging 
this  call  upon  his  consideration,  a  distinguished  citizen,  a 
member  of  that  congregation,  writes  :  "I  have  cherished  for  ten 
years  the  most  lively  recollections  of  our  association  in  the 
army,  and  this,  in  connection  with  much  that  I  have  heard  of 
your  successful  ministry,  make  me  think  that  of  all  the  men 
I  know  engaged  in  your  sacred  calling  you  are  best  fitted 
for  this  large  field." 

His  parishioners,  as  well  as  the  citizens  of  Greenville,  were 

143 


144  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

universally  kind  to  and  thoughtful  of  him.  Each  year  his 
salary  was  increased,  and  through  his  journal  there  are  fre- 
quent entries  of  gifts  to  himself  and  members  of  his  family. 
With  each  such  entry  he  makes  a  fitting  expression  of  appre- 
ciation. 

In  1874  he  was  elected  as  a  delegate  to  the  General  Conven- 
tion, which  met  in  New  York,  and,  as  it  appears  from  his 
journal,  "friends  from  the  parish  and  elsewhere  made  it  pos- 
sible for  me  to  go."  These  contributions  he  placed  against  his 
personal  account  with  this  entry:  "These  gifts  were  made 
to  enable  me  to  attend  the  General  Convention  in  New  York, 
and  by  my  friends  also  who  were  in  New  York." 

The  Reverend  Ellison  Capers  could  not  enjoy  New  York 
without  an  effort  to  share  this,  then  (1874)  novel  experience, 
with  his  family.  This  he  did  through  his  letters  to  the  chil- 
dren.    Two  of  the  most  interesting  we  give  here : 

New  York,  Friday  night, 

Oct.  14,  '74. 
My  Dear  Frank  : 

Suppose  I  tell  you  where  I  have  been  and  what  I  have  seen 
to-day ! 

Well,  at  9  o'clock  a.  m.  I  had  an  engagement  to  be  at  Trinity 
Chapel  to  see  the  worship  and  parish  school,  etc.  Trinity 
Chapel  is  on  Twenty-fifth  Street,  west  of  Fifth  Avenue,  this 
Fifth  Avenue  being  one  of  the  great  streets  which  run  north 
and  south  in  this  great  city.  The  chapel  is  larger  than  our 
church  in  Greenville,  and  is  very  beautiful.  Some  sixty  boys, 
a  few  ladies  and  gentlemen,  and  the  choir  boys  said  and  sang 
the  Litany  service.  Several  of  the  choir  boys  were  smaller 
than  Johnny,  and  one  dear-looking  little  fellow  was  about  half- 
way between  Od  and  Ell !  After  service  I  went  into  the 
schoolroom  and  saw  the  boys  at  their  books.  Then  I  went  to 
Fifth  Avenue  and  walked  down  to  596  Broadway,  which 
must  be  two  miles  from  Twenty-fifth  Street,  and  then  at  596 
I  saw  Mays  Cleveland.     He  looks  quite  well,  and  was  busy 


ELLISON  CAPERS  145 

having  boots  and  shoes  packed  in  boxes  to  send  away,  N.,  E.,  S., 
and  W.,  for  New  York  is  the  great  market  for  the  whole  of 
our  country.  Really,  my  son,  you  can  form  no  idea  of  the 
trade  of  this  great  city  unless  you  were  here.  Blake  Howe 
is  here  with  his  father,  and  if  I  live,  you,  too,  shall  see  New 
Vork. 

From  No.  596  I  went  on  down  a  mile  farther  in  Broad- 
wav  to  471,  to  see  Mr.  John  Beattie,  and  after  a  pleasant 
visit  to  him  I  took  the  street  cars  from  Fulton  Ferry  and 
rode  two  more  miles,  and  then  crossed  over  to  Brooklyn. 
Here  I  visited  the  Packer  Institute,  and  saw  Annie  Cox,  and 
heard  beautiful  reading  from  the  girls  and  some  good  poetry 
recited.  Good  reading  is  rare,  by  the  by.  These  Packer  girls 
read  better  than  any  minister  I  have  yet  heard,  but  I  think 
Mother  reads  better  than  the  best  of  the  girls  I  heard. 

From  Packer  I  came  back  to  New  York,  met  the  Bishop  at 
St.  John's  Church,  where  the  Convention  is  sitting,  and  he 
and  Mr.  McCullough  and  I  went  to  Central  Park.  And  this 
Central  Park  is  a  paradise!  It  is  perfectly  beautiful  and  most 
lovely.  I  send  you  a  card  which  the  conductor  of  the  Park 
carriage  hands  to  everyone  who  rides.  But  the  true  way  to  see 
the  Park  is  to  walk  over  it,  and  take  all  day  for  it.  The 
menagerie  is  very  fine  indeed.  Here  they  have  an  animal  they 
called  a  sea  lion,  which  comes  from  the  Northern  Pacific 
Ocean.  Just  imagine  a  splendid  Bengal  tiger,  with  great  fins 
instead  of  legs,  and  two  great  fins  behind  instead  of  a  tail, 
and  you  have  the  sea  lion!  Then  there  is  a  splendid  hippo- 
potamus, as  large  as  an  elephant,  and  ever  so  many  animals. 
And  all  of  this  for  only  the  trouble  of  getting  there.  Every- 
thing, but  the  eating,  is  free  to  the  poorest. 

When  the  Bishop  and  I  got  back  to  Broadway  it  was  half 
past  six,  so  we  went  into  a  restaurant  and  took  our  dinner. 
Then  at  7:30  went  to  the  Board  of  Missions  at  St.  Ann's, 
West  Eighteenth  Street,  and  there  I  left  them  all  at  half  past 
nine,  and  came  to  Mr.  LeRoy's,  No.  20  West  Twenty-third 
Street.     And  now,  my  son,  it  must  be  one  o'clock,  and  I  must 


146  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

say  good-night.  Kiss  Mother  and  May  and  Johnny  and  Oddy 
and  Ell  and  Walter  and  Lottie,  and  Aunt  Lila  and  Videau, 
and  let  May  kiss  you  for  your  own  dear, 

Father. 
On  the  value  of  prizes. 

At  Mr.  LeRoy's,  20  West  23RD  St., 
New  York,  Oct.  21,  '74. 
My  Dear  Son  : 

I  read  a  letter  from  Mother  written  last  Friday  and  Satur- 
day, this  morning,  and  I  was  glad  to  learn  that  you  had  taken 
the  prize  for  good  riding.  Father  thinks  he  owes  it  to  his  dear 
boy  to  seize  this  occasion  to  be  of  service  to  you,  Frank,  by 
giving  you  a  word  of  caution,  as  well  as  congratulation.  The 
prizes  we  take  in  life,  my  son,  are  only  valuable  to  us  as  w-e 
make  them  serve  us  as  a  real  good  purpose.  For  instance,  the 
blue  ribbon  is  just  as  valuable  a  prize  as  a  five-dollar  bill 
would  be  if  we  make  it  remind  us  of  the  effort  and  persever- 
ance and  an  honorable  emulation.  But  if  it  makes  us  vain 
and  boastful  and  pretentious,  and  unmindful  of  the  nobler  feel- 
ings of  modesty  and  humility,  and  consideration  for  our  in- 
feriors, then  it  has  only  done  us  harm.  Never  boast  or  brag 
of  your  good  riding,  or  allude  to  your  prize  in  a  vain  spirit. 
The  greatest  men  are  always  the  simplest  and  the  humblest. 
Your  grandfather  Capers  was  one  of  the  first  men  of  his  day, 
and  he  never  once  to  my  recollection  alluded  to  his  great 
success  as  a  preacher,  or  his  fame  among  men. 

Great  men  shine,  says  a  writer,  as  the  sun  shines,  because 
they  are  full  of  light  and  must  shine.  Small  men  are  like  an 
illuminated  sign  I  see  every  night  on  Fifth  Avenue;  they 
shine  by  great  effort  and  much  ado,  and  all  sorts  of  arrange- 
ments to  attract  attention. 

This  blue  ribbon  is  your  first  prize,  my  son,  and  tho'  I 
would  have  rejoiced  if  you  had  taken  it  for  good  reading,  or 
speaking,  or  singing,  far  more  than  I  do,  yet  if  you  make  it 
help  you  to  repress  any  temptation  to  vanity  or  boasting,  and 


ELLISON  CAPERS  147 

to  spur  you  on  to  higher  and  nobler  effort,  it  will  only  be 
the  beginning  of  the  prizes  which  you  will  win  in  life.  And 
may  you  and  I,  my  dear  boy,  win  the  prize  which  can  never 
fade  away,  and  which  is  laid  up  for  us  through  the  love  of 
Jesus  our  dear  Saviour. 

If  it  pleases  God  to  unite  us  all  again  I  will  have  much 
to  tell  you  of  this  great  city. 

I  expected  to  have  received  a  letter  from  you  before  this, 
and  have  been  disappointed  in  your  not  writing  to  me.  If 
your  life  is  spared  and  you  become  a  man,  and  a  father,  you 
will  be  sure  to  look  for  letters  from  home  with  all  the  interest 
which  Father  has  felt  to  hear  from  you  all. 

Kiss  dear  Mother  for  me  and  tell  her  I  enjoyed  her  letter 
this  morning  ever  so  much.  Love  and  kisses  to  Mary,  John. 
Od,  Ell,  Walter,  and  Lottie. 

Your  loving  father, 

E.  Capers. 

Rev.  Ellison  Capers  took  a  deep  interest  in  the  Sunday 
school,  and  every  department  of  the  church's  life  and  work 
steadily  grew  and  prospered  under  his  devoted  care.  In  1866 
Christ  Church  was  a  divided,  demoralized,  and  discouraged 
congregation,  with  but  few  communicants. 

The  journal  of  his  early  ministry  reveals,  among  other 
things,  the  sentimental  estimate  our  forefathers  placed  upon 
the  wedding  fee.  This  fee  was  given  in  a  spirit  of  gratitude  to 
the  man  who  "gave  the  groom  his  bride."  It  was  not  then  a 
formal,  meaningless  custom.  Consequently  wedding  fees 
then  were  largely  in  excess  of  such  fees  to-day.  These  fees 
ranged  from  twenty  to  fifty  dollars,  and  were  invariably  "paid 
in  gold." 

There  are  but  few  entries  in  his  journal  of  five  and 
ten  dollar  wedding  fees.  Many  were  the  occasions  when 
there  was  no  fee  at  all.  The  rectory  was  the  popular  sanctuary 
at  which  the  less  fortunate  Confederate  soldier  and  his  bride 
were  frequently  united  in  the  holy  bonds  of  wedlock  by  the 


148  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

"General" ;  likewise  with  the  poor  of  the  parish,  and  often 
family  servants.  Such  service  was  of  course  freely  rendered 
and  never  failed  to  be  the  occasion  of  much  interest  to  the 
large  family  of  children,  as  well  as  visiting  friends  at  such 
times.  Many  and  amusing  are  the  incidents  that  occurred 
at  these  impromptu  weddings,  all  of  which  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Capers  enjoyed  with  a  keen  relish,  and  often  related  with 
delightful  humor.  We  recall  his  intense  amusement  upon 
two  occasions  especially.  One  was  the  marriage  of  a  couple 
from  the  factory,  the  "best  man"  being  the  bride's  brother. 
At  the  conclusion  of  the  service  the  groom  asked :  "What 
do  you  charge?"  The  reply  was:  "There  is  no  charge;  any- 
thing given  is  purely  voluntary."  The  groom  thereupon  pulled 
the  "best  man"  aside,  and  in  a  moment  he  returned  and 
handed  the  officiating  minister  four  dollars.  With  keen  insight 
into  human  nature,  Mr.  Capers  noticed  the  sullen  and  down- 
cast expression  of  the  "best  man's"  face.  When  the  couple 
withdrew  he  asked  the  best  man  to  wait  a  moment.  Making 
inquiry  as  to  the  source  from  which  the  groom  secured  his 
wedding  fee,  the  brother-in-law  said :  "From  me,  and  I  will 
never  see  a  cent  of  it  again."  The  money  was  promptly  given 
back  and  the  "best  man"  retired  light-hearted  and  happy. 

Upon  another  occasion  a  colored  couple  were  married  in 
the  parlors  of  the  rectory.  The  children  and  members  of  the 
family  were  all  assembled  to  witness  the  ceremony.  The  cere- 
mony concluded,  the  blushing  and  agitated  bride  heaved  a 
heavy  sigh  and  sank  upon  the  sofa.  The  groom  stepped  for- 
ward to  "salute"  her  with  a  kiss.  Looking  at  him  reproach- 
fully she  said:  "Oh,  shu,  Tom,  can't  you  wait?"  The  incon- 
gruity of  this  feigned  modesty  provoked  the  children  to  laugh- 
ter, and  was  the  source  of  great  amusement  to  us  all. 

In  recalling  the  days  when  patriarchal  sentiment  existed 
between  the  races,  we  marvel  at  the  unwisdom  of  outside 
interference,  which  has  only  tended  to  drive  white  and  black 
farther  and  farther  apart.  Even  in  the  '70's  and  '8o's,  when 
guided  by  our  own  inclinations,  and  not  directed  to  perform 


ELLISON  CAPERS  149 

a  stated  service,  and  without  a  thought  of  social  equahty  on 
the  part  of  either  black  or  white,  the  ministers  of  the  parish 
administered  to  the  spiritual  needs  of  both  races.  They  were 
members  of  the  same  church  and  partakers  at  the  same  altar. 
In  the  parish  register  of  Christ  Church,  Greenville,  there  is 
a  record  of  eight  colored  families,  members  and  communicants 
of  the  parish.  In  Mr.  Capers'  personal  journal  is  a  scrap  of 
paper  bearing  the  signature  of  seven  negroes,  with  the  amount 
subscribed  placed  opposite  their  names  (amounting  to  $7.50). 
This  is  accompanied  by  the  following:  "For  Mr.  Capers' 
Christmas  present  from  the  colored  members  of  his  congre- 
gation, to  whom  he  is  always  so  kind."  Such  would  be  im- 
possible to-day.  Is  the  change  for  the  betterment  of  the 
negro  race? 

In  the  summer  of  1875  Mr.  Capers  received  and  accepted 
the  call  to  St.  Paul's  Church,  Selma,  Ala.,  salary  three  thou- 
sand a  year,  and  rectory.  The  accompanying  letter  in  con- 
nection with  this  call  gives  us  an  interesting  picture  of  Mr. 
Capers  at  the  age  of  thirty-eight. 

Charlotte,  N.  C,  July  29,  1875. 
My  Dear  Sir: 

In  accordance  with  the  resolution  of  the  vestry,  communi- 
cated to  me  by  Captain  Nelson,  I  went  down  to  Greenville 
on  Tuesday  last  to  see  Mr.  Capers,  and  communicate  with  him 
in  regard  to  his  acceptance  of  the  call  to  Selma.  I  was  quite 
favorably  impressed  with  him.  I  found  him  to  be  a  gentle- 
man of  pleasant  manners,  frank,  earnest,  intelligent,  and 
zealous.  He  appears  to  be  highly  esteemed  in  Greenville  by 
the  church  people  and  citizens  generally.  He  seems  to  be  a 
man  of  strong  sympathies,  and  I  was  told  paid  great  attention 
to  the  poor  and  the  sick.  I  found  him  almost  settled  in  his 
determination  to  decline  our  call.  His  main  objections  were 
two.  First,  his  wife's  incapacity  to  endure  hot  weather,  and, 
second,  the  strong  disinclination  of  Bishop  Howe  against  his 
leaving  the  diocese  at  this  time.  He  told  me  that  Bishop  Howe 


150  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

was  his  father  in  God,  and  he  would  not  leave  the  diocese  with- 
out his  full  and  free  consent  and  advice,  however  hard  it 
might  be  for  him  to  remain, — and  he  means  it.  It  seems  that 
there  are  but  one  or  two  ministers  in  the  whole  northern 
portion  of  South  Carolina,  and  Greenville  is  the  only  place 
where  the  Church  is  growing.  He  said,  too,  that  he  felt  it 
almost  impossible  to  leave  his  congregation,  that  they  have 
been  so  kind  and  affectionate  that  he  must  sacrifice  much  to 
leave  them.  His  salary,  however,  is  only  twelve  hundred 
dollars,  and  he  has  seven  children,  so  that  it  is  almost  impos- 
sible for  him  to  live  and  educate  his  children.  The  youngest 
is  four  years  old. 

His  wife  appears  to  be  delicate,  but  seems  to  take  an  active 
part  in  church  work.  He  finally  told  me  that  he  would  give 
our  call  a  favorable  consideration,  and  would  advise  with 
Bishop  Howe,  who  reached  Greenville  last  night.  I  think  he 
will  accept  if  Bishop  Howe  does  not  take  strong  ground  against 
it.  He  told  me  very  frankly  that  the  salary  was  an  important 
thing  to  him,  that  he  could  give  his  children  nothing  but 
an  education,  and  that  they  could  not  get  it  as  he  is  now 
situated. 

I  told  him  I  thought  there  would  be  but  little  trouble  in  his 
getting  a  vacation  of  two  months  in  the  heat  of  the  summer, 
and  I  think  it  must  be  conceded  to  him.  I  believe,  however, 
this  has  been  customary  when  the  health  of  the  family  required 
it.  I  heard  Mr.  Capers  read  the  service  and  lecture  yesterday 
evening.  He  is  a  capital  reader,  has  a  clear,  musical  voice, 
not  loud,  but  quite  distinct;  reads  with  earnestness.  He  lec- 
tured ten  minutes  extempo;  speaks  readily  and  easily;  no 
affectation,  talks  very  well.  He  writes  his  sermons.  He  told 
me  he  feared  he  would  not  give  satisfaction  as  a  preacher. 
The  church  people  in  Greenville  say  he  is  a  capital  preacher; 
the  outsiders  say,  good. 

Mr.  Capers  will  impress  anyone  very  favorably  socially. 
He  is  a  polished  gentleman,  with  easy  and  attractive  manners, 
and  I  am  told  is  quite  a  trump  in  the  social  line.     He  appears, 


ELLISON  CAPERS  151 

however,  to  be  a  man  of  prudence,  and  to  have  a  will  of  his 
own,  which  he  doesn't  hesitate  to  express  to  his  vestry.  He 
is  a  son  of  the  late  Bishop  Capers  of  the  Methodist  Church. 
He  told  me  that  he  got  along  very  pleasantly  with  his  dis- 
senting brethren;  they  call  him  "Brother  Capers."  I  take  it 
that  he  is  somewhat  Low  church — classing  him  on  a  cotton 
basis; — as  to  his  churchmanship,  I  would  rank  him  about 
"good  ordinary."  He  is  a  man  of  a  cheerful  temperament, 
and  looks  on  the  brigiit  side  of  things.  I  have  given  you  a 
pretty  thorough  estimate  of  his  character  from  a  day's  obser- 
vation and  investigation.  It  only  remains  to  give  a  brief  de- 
scription of  his  appearance.  He  is  about  five  feet,  ten  inches ; 
will  weigh  about  145.  has  blue  eyes,  brown  hair, — a  little 
inclined  not  to  stay  on  his  head  (like  Colonel  Dawson),  has 
a  prominent  but  pleasant  nose,  one  that  you  would  not  feel 
inclined  to  pull,  but  bow  to;  has  something  of  the  appearance 
of  a  college  professor,  but  rather  more  genial.  He  dresses 
neatly  and  harmoniously,  and  the  general  get-up  is  pleasant 
and  agreeable.  To  sum  up,  I  think  his  selection  is  the  best 
that  could  have  been  made,  and  I  would  vote  for  him  now 
against  the  field,  if  such  an  expression  is  permissible  in  a 
vestryman.  He  was  Secretary  of  State  of  South  Carolina  in 
1867,  ^"d  resigned  that  office,  four  thousand  dollars  salary, 
to  take  charge  of  the  church  at  Greenville. 

He  told  me  that  if  Bishop  Howe  did  not  seriously  oppose 
his  leaving,  he  thought  he  would  run  down  to  Selma  next 
week  and  see  what  he  thought  of  it  as  a  residence  for  his 
wife.  Perhaps  you  had  best  get  tickets  for  him  and  send  him. 
If  he  comes  you  had  better  put  a  lump  of  ice  under  his  bed. 
I  have  written  more  at  length  than  I  had  any  idea  of  when 
I  commenced,  and  hence  the  rambling  style  of  my  note.  Mr. 
Capers  asked  me  to  tell  you  that  he  would  write  you  in  a  few 
days.  He  received  a  call  from  Christ  Church,  Macon,  Ga., 
the  morning  I  reached  Greenville,  and  had  one  the  day  before 
from  some  other  place.  We  have  the  go  on  them,  however, 
as  he  seems  more  inclined  to  Selma  than  anywhere  else.     T 


152  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

would  rather  pay  him  three  thousand  dollars  than  to  take  the 
chances  on  any  other  parson  at  two  thousand  dollars  (except 
Mr.  Cobb).  Yours  truly, 

(Signed)     Jos.  F.  Johnston. 

When  the  Reverend  Mr.  Capers  had  definitely  decided  to 
accept  the  call  to  Selma,  the  public  press  took  notice  of  his 
intention  in  the  following  editorials : 

"rev.   ELLISON    CAPERS 

"This  gentleman  is  so  generally  esteemed  by  the  people  of 
Greenville  in  all  the  walks  of  life,  in  and  out  of  the  church, 
that  we  fear  his  place  will  not  easily  be  filled. 

"We  love  the  man  for  his  social  qualities,  his  warm,  genial 
temper,  for  his  earnest  discharge  of  the  duties  in  his  pro- 
fession. We  honor  him  as  a  Christian  gentleman.  We  who 
love  Mr.  Capers  can  only  regret  his  leaving.  We  are  assured 
that  wherever  he  goes  he  will  be  honored  as  the  people  of 
Greenville  have  honored  him. 

"The  people  of  Selma  may  well  congratulate  themselves  in 
being  able  to  take  from  us  one  of  the  most  useful  and  promis- 
ing men  of  our  young  city." — Greenville  Daily  Nezvs,  Septem- 
ber 5,  1875. 

Dr.  Buist,  pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  Greenville, 
in  a  communication  to  the  Mountaineer,  writes  the  following 
notice  of  this  gentleman : 

"The  Rev.  Ellison  Capers,  for  many  years  the  beloved  and 
honored  rector  of  Christ  Church  in  this  place,  has  resigned 
his  charge  here  and  accepted  an  unanimous  invitation  to  the. 
Episcopal  church  in  Selma,  Ala.  Both  churches  are  important 
fields  of  usefulness,  but  the  church  in  Selma  is  the  largest  and 
furnishes  most  probably  the  more  extensive  and  abundant 
materials  for  doing  good. 


ELLISON  CAPERS  153 

"The  Rev.  Mr.  Capers  is  much  esteemed  in  this  community 
and  greatly  beloved  by  his  church.  Few  men  will  be  more 
useful  and  many  a  cloud  will  rest  upon  us  as  a  people  by  his 
absence. 

"His  pure  and  Christian  life,  his  charming  and  genial  man- 
ners, his  delightful  instruction  in  the  pulpit,  his  unwearied 
attention  to  the  poor  and  sick,  will  be  our  loss,  but  they  will 
be  Selma's  gain,  and  the  light  and  joy  we  lose  we  trust  will 
be  redoubled  to  the  people  among  whom  he  goes,  and  long 
may  he  live  to  bless  them,  and  oft  may  he  visit  his  devoted 
people  to  cheer  and  enlighten  them." 

Preamble  and  resolutions  adopted  unanimously  by  Colum- 
bia Convocation  at  the  meeting  in  Trinity  Church,  Columbia, 
S.  C,  January  27,  1876: 

Whereas,  since  our  last  meeting.  Rev.  Ellison  Capers,  one 
of  the  original  movers  and  most  efficient  promoters  of  this 
Convocation,  has  been,  in  God's  Providence,  called  away  from 
our  fellowship,  to  a  field  of  duty  beyond  our  limits  and 
those  of  the  diocese : 
Resolved : 

1st — That  we  sincerely  regret  the  severance  of  those  bonds 
which  bound  our  dear  Brother  Capers  to  us  as  a  mem- 
ber of  this  body. 
2nd — That  we  will  always  cherish  him  in  our  remembrance, 
and  that  he  has  our  earnest  prayers  and  best  wishes 
for  his  happiness  and  success  in  his  new  field  of  labor. 
3rd — That  this  tribute  be  entered  on  our  minutes  and  a 
copy  transmitted  to  him  by  the  Secretary. 

(Signed)     P.  J.  Shand,  President. 
John  Kershaw, 

Secretary. 

In  connection  with  this  call  and  his  return  to  Greenville 
there  is  this  unique  circumstance.    Called  from  Christ  Church, 


154  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

Greenville,  to  St.  Paul's,  Selma,  the  former  church  became 
vacant  after  Mr.  Capers  had  been  in  Selma  a  year.  The  retir- 
ing rector,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Jackson  (afterward  Bishop  of  Ala- 
bama), the  vestry,  the  congregation,  the  various  societies  in 
the  church,  the  town  as  a  municipality,  and  various  organiza- 
tions of  citizens  all  united  in  petitioning  Mr.  Capers  to  return 
to  his  former  charge.  This  call  he  accepted.  When  he  had  been 
in  Greenville  three  years  St.  Paul's,  Selma,  became  vacant,  and 
he  was  called  back  to  that  parish,  similar  action  being  taken 
there,  as  in  Greenville,  by  congregation,  vestry,  citizens,  and 
officials  of  Selma.  When,  twelve  years  after  the  second  call  to 
St.  Paul's  was  extended  him  Dr.  Capers  was  elevated  to  the  epis- 
copate, a  beautiful  episcopal  ring,  the  seal  of  the  Diocese  of 
South  Carolina,  was  the  offering  this  loyal  parish  made  to  the 
bishop  who  had  served  them  as  rector  for  just  one  year. 


CHRIST   CHURCH,    GREENX  H.Li:,    S.    C. 


Opposite  pacjc  155. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

RETURN  TO  GREENVILLE 

September  14,  1876.* — On  this  day  I  received  a  call  to  return 
to  Greenville,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Jackson  having  determined  to 
return  to  Virginia. 

October  31. — Left  Selma.  from  Colonel  Dawson's,  in  com- 
pany with  Mr.  Hallam,  my  successor,  and  arrived  at  Dalton 
at  8  p.  M. 

November  2. — Frank,  John,  and  Oddy  left  with  me  at  eight 
this  morning  for  Atlanta,  by  dirt  road ;  arrived  at  Atlanta  at 
2  130  p.  M.  on  the  4th,  after  a  delightful  travel  over  the  same 
road  on  which  I  marched  and  fought  and  suffered  with  Gen- 
eral Johnston's  army  in  1864. 

Sunday  5. — Spent  the  day  in  Atlanta  and  preached  at  night 
from  these  words  :   "Be  strong  in  the  faith." 

November  6. — Arrived  in  Greenville  at  midnight. 

Sunday  12. — Resumed  my  duties  as  rector.  Celebrated  holy 
communion,  read  morning  prayer  and  preached  from  Ephe- 
sians, 

Nov.  II,  1877. — I  have  not  kept  my  official  journal  for 
1877  with  any  regularity.  During  the  year  I  have  officiated 
regularly  in  my  parish  and  discharged  the  usual  duties.  The 
year  had  been  an  eventful  one  in  my  family.  John,  Ell,  and 
May  has  each  been  ill  with  typhoid  fever,  and  Mrs.  Capers 
has  been  unusually  tried  by  bad  health.  We  sent  our  eldest 
son  off  to  school  in  September.  We  lost  our  valuable  horse 
in  December,  the  second  horse  lost  since  our  return  to  Green- 
ville. 

The  writer's  first  recollections  of  Greenville  go  back  to  the 

*Private  journal. 
155 


156  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

return  from  Selma  in  1876.  The  old  rectory  of  Christ  Church 
was  a  big,  square,  two-story  frame  house,  with  a  large  garret 
in  which  the  children  delighted  to  play.  Between  the  rectory 
and  the  lawn  was  an  old-fashioned  circular  flower  garden, 
around  which  was  the  "driveway."  From  this  "driveway"  a 
gravel  walk  led -up  to  the  house.  Beautiful  oak  and  hickory 
trees  cast  their  grateful  shade  about  the  premises.  Beyond 
the  grove  was  the  meadow,  where  the  "family  horse"  and  the 
"parson's  cow"  spent  their  leisure  hours  grazing,  and,  in  sea- 
son, "fighting  flies."  Here  the  boys  had  a  baseball  diamond, 
marked  out  for  them  by  their  ever  indulgent  father's  own 
hands.  The  churchyard  was  entered  through  a  gate  at  the 
foot  of  this  lawn.  To  the  east  and  north  of  the  churchyard 
lay  about  two  acres  of  glebe  land.  Part  of  this  was  cultivated 
as  a  garden,  and  the  remainder  planted  in  "provender"  for 
horse  and  cow.  Mr.  Capers  was  a  devoted  gardener.  He 
loved  nature.  It  delighted  him  to  be  in  "the  open,"  to  work 
in  the  soil,  and  to  watch  the  development  and  growth  of  fruit 
and  flower,  tree  and  plant.  The  yield  of  his  garden  was 
sufficient  to  supply  his  family  an  abundant  table.  This  was 
quite  a  feat,  for  in  addition  to  the  regular  family  of  nine 
there  were  always  friends,  relatives,  and  some  times,  "the 
stranger  within  the  gate"  to  sit  down  to  each  meal. 

During  the  hot  June  of  1878  Mr.  Capers  worked  so  indus- 
triously in  his  garden  that  he  suffered  a  sunstroke.  He  was 
afterward  quite  sensitive  to  such  exposure.  Unwilling  to 
forego  the  pleasure,  the  profit,  and  the  exercise — all  so  neces- 
sary to  him — which  work  in  the  field  gave  him,  he  adopted 
the  device  of  a  sunshade.  This  was  a  kind  of  umbrella,  which 
rested  upon  steel  rods  fastened  about  his  waist,  a  prong  rest- 
ing upon  his  shoulders. 

The  life  at  the  rectory  was  simple,  but  strenuous.  The 
hospitality  extended  there  was  "open  hospitality,"  where 
friends  "just  dropped  in  to  a  family  meal." 

Mr.  Capers  inherited  from  his  father  a  mechanical  turn. 
He  was  "a  born  carpenter."     In  his  zeal  to  keep  up  the  rec- 


ELLISON  CAPERS  157 

tory  premises,  he  often  made  an  appeal  for  materials  and 
pledged  himself  as  responsible  for  the  carpenter  work.  Dur- 
ing his  long  rectorship  the  stable  and  other  outhouses  were 
often  shingled  by  him,  while,  with  "old  Uncle  Ned"  to  dig 
the  postholes,  he  and  his  "boys"  ran  the  fences  around  and 
the  cross  fences  through  the  entire  place. 

Upon  one  occasion  the  rectory  needed  enlarging.  A  dining- 
room,  pantry,  and  kitchen  were  required.  The  loyal  little  con- 
gregation was  much  interested  in  the  enterprise,  but  in  the 
face  of  other  obligations  its  accomplishment  was  doubtful. 
Mr.  Capers  solved  the  difficulty  by  offering  to  build  the  addi- 
tion himself  if  the  materials  were  furnished.  This  work  he 
accomplished  without  detriment  to  his  parish  or  pulpit  duties, 
and  in  the  midst  of  demands  for  additional  addresses  and 
sermons  outside  of  his  own  parish.  The  work  was  neces- 
sarily "long  drawn  out,"  but  when  finally  finished  the  parish, 
as  well  as  the  rector  and  his  family,  was  very  proud  of  the 
result.  Though  his  sons  helped  him  in  such  work,  he  was 
always  thoughtful  of  their  pleasures  and  sacrificed  himself 
to  do  the  "lion's  share." 

He  took  the  liveliest  interest  in  his  children's  pets.  The 
chickens,  pigeons,  goats,  and  dogs  all  claimed  and  received  his 
interested  attention.  He  taught  his  sons  to  shoot,  ride,  and 
swim,  and  encouraged  them  in  manly  sports.  He  made  fine 
parallel  and  horizontal  bars  for  them  to  "act"  on,  and  often 
took  his  guests  out  to  see  the  boys  take  their  gymnastic  exer- 
cises. In  the  summer  months  he  frequently  drove  his  sons 
and  their  friends  to  Goldsmith's  pond.  There,  under  his 
instruction,  we  all  learned  to  swim.  He  was  a  strong  man 
and  a  good  swimmer.  As  a  child,  and  later  as  a  cadet  at  the 
Citadel,  he  enjoyed  the  surf  and  swam  in  the  fresh-water 
streams  of  the  low  country.  When  quite  small  we  boys 
would  straddle  his  back  and  he  would  swim  the  pond  with 
us,  one  at  a  time.  We  recall  the  excitement  on  one  occasion 
when  engaged  in  this  sport.  John,  the  boy  on  his  back,  be- 
came frightened;  in  spite  of  the  commands  of  "the  General" 


158  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

to  sit  steady  in  his  position,  the  little  fellow  kept  moving  up 
toward  his  father's  neck.  Protests  were  of  no  avail;  the  child 
reached  the  neck  and  frantically  clutched  his  father's  head. 
The  result  was  inevitable.  Down  went  swimmer,  rider,  and 
all !  Mr.  Capers  came  up  badly  strangled  and  gasping  for 
breath.  He  endeavored  to  locate  the  child,  who,  when  under 
the  water,  had  gotten  from  him.  The  moment  was  critical. 
The  little  fellow  came  up  and  screamed.  The  eldest  son, 
Frank,  had  already  started  to  their  assistance,  and  by  the 
time  his  brother  rose  the  second  time  he  had  him  by  the  hair 
and  was  swimming  toward  the  shore.  Mr.  Capers,  having  by 
this  time  recovered  himself,  lent  his  aid,  and  soon  they  were 
out  of  the  water  that  had  been  beyond  their  depth.  We  do  not 
recall  that  the  practice  of  "riding  father  across  the  pond"  was 
ever  indulged  in  again. 

The  second  ministry  of  Mr.  Capers  at  Christ  Church  was 
one  of  ever-increasing  activity  in  the  missionary  work  of 
the  church.  During  the  week  he  was  frequently  away  from 
home  holding  services  in  the  country.  In  this  connection  we 
recall  an  incident  which  illustrates  his  aggressiveness  and 
determination  when  in  the  performance  of  duty.  With  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Hallam,  of  Abbeville,  he  was  to  hold  a  mission  at 
Laurence,  some  thirty  miles  distant.  Mr.  Hallam  arrived 
the  night  before,  as  they  were  to  start  early  the  next  morning. 
Two  of  the  boys  went  down  to  the  livery  stable  to  bring  up 
the  conveyance  in  which  their  father  and  Mr.  Hallam  were  to 
make  the  journey.  A  splendid  pair  of  horses,  rigged  to  a 
light  buggy,  was  soon  at  the  door.  The  two  youngsters  asked 
their  father  to  let  them  "take  a  turn"  before  he  made  his 
start.  He  was  always  anxious  to  please  his  children.  How- 
ever, upon  this  occasion  he  was  afraid  to  trust  the  boys  alone 
with  the  spirited  horses.  He  therefore  offered  to  go  along, 
letting  the  elder  of  the  two  "do  the  driving."  After  a  short 
spin  they  returned  to  the  rectory.  The  little  fellow  driving 
thoughtlessly  dropped  the  reins  as  he  jumped  out.  The  other 
boy  was  standing  at  the  horses'  heads.     As  Mr.  Capers  got  out 


ELLISON  CAPERS  159 

of  the  buggy  the  loop  of  the  reins  caught  him  about  the 
feet.  He  fell  forward  heavily,  striking  his  head  a  tremendous 
blow  on  the  brick  steps.  He  was  knocked  unconscious.  Elli- 
son struggled  manfully  to  lift  his  father,  while  Walter  held 
the  horses.  Both  boys  called  lustily  for  help.  In  a  few 
moments  the  family  and  servants  were  upon  the  scene.  Mr. 
Capers  was  taken  into  the  house,  where  he  regained  conscious- 
ness. Resting  for  an  hour  or  two  he  then  proceeded  on  the 
drive,  in  spite  of  the  protests  of  his  family,  the  advice  of  his 
doctor,  and  the  appeals  of  Mrs.  Capers.  He  was  always 
impatient  of  restraint  in  the  face  of  what  he  conceived  to  be 
his  duty.  "Why,  they  will  be  coming  for  miles  to  attend  the 
services.  I  cannot  disappoint  them.  It  will  be  too  bad  to 
postpone  the  mission.  The  blow  is  nothing."  That  was  his 
final  answer  to  their  protests. 


CHAPTER  XV 

NOMINATED   STATE   SUPERINTENDENT   OF    EDUCATION 

The  Republican  usurpation  in  South  Carolina  during  "Recon- 
struction" made  Democracy  a  unit.  But  after  the  Democratic 
triumph  in  1876  men  began  again  to  think  for  themselves 
along  economic  lines.  They  acted  more  independently  in  the 
agitation  of  political  questions. 

In  the  Middle  West  the  Greenback  party  was  organized  to 
further  the  increased  use  of  "greenback"  currency  and  a  more 
complete  recognition  of  such  currency  as  a  legal  tender.  This 
party  finally  united  its  strength  with  the  Labor  Party,  and 
in  1880  cast  more  than  three  hundred  thousand  votes  for 
James  B.  Weaver  (recently  dead)  for  the  Presidency.  Under 
General  William  Mahone,  "the  Hero  of  the  Crater,"  the  Read- 
juster  party  dominated  Virginia  politics  in  i88t.  This  party 
made  its  fight  on  the  proposition  either  to  reject  entirely  or 
else  scale  down  and  readjust  the  enormous  State  debt  con- 
tracted during  the  war  and  Reconstruction  era. 

About  this  time  the  "Grange"  or  Farmers'  Alliance  sprang 
up,  and  Mr.  Bland  also  began  his  agitation  in  Congress  for 
"free  silver."  It  was  an  era  of  political  unrest.  Following 
the  panic  of  1873  was  a  period  of  prosperity.  Then  values 
began  again  to  diminish.  The  year  1882  was  not  a  prosperous 
one.  Somebody  was  to  blame !  Why  not  the  political  party 
in  power?  A  faction  of  the  Democratic  party  and  elements 
belonging  to  and  in  sympathy  with  Republican,  Greenback, 
Labor,  Readjuster,  "Grange"  parties  respectively  were  ready 
to  fuse  for  the  overthrow  of  the  "common  enemy." 

160 


ELLISON  CAPERS  i6i 

The  Democratic  party  was  alive  to  the  situation.  Party- 
leaders  had  been  advising,  feeling  the  pulse  of  the  people,  with 
a  view  to  securing  the  strongest  men  to  be  nominated  for  the 
various  offices  on  the  State  ticket  in  South  Carolina. 

In  addition  to  questions  and  agitations  of  general  political 
interest,  the  question  of  the  re-establishment  of  the  Citadel  and 
the  State  College  was  made  a  dominant  issue  in  the  impend- 
ing campaign  in  South  Carolina.  The  Citadel,  the  military 
school  of  the  State,  and  the  South  Carolina  College,  at  Co- 
lumbia, had  but  recently  been  re-established.  While  these 
colleges  were  closed  the  denominational  colleges  had  taken 
full  possession  of  the  educational  field  and  now  strongly  op- 
posed their  re-establishment.  Strong  in  the  support  of  their 
alumni  in  the  Legislature,  these  colleges  endeavored  to  check 
the  growth  of  the  State's  halls  of  learning  and  their  first  point 
of  attack  was  opposition  to  the  free  tuition  feature  of  these 
institutions. 

The  position  of  the  denominational  colleges  in  reference  to 
"free  tuition"  may  be  summed  up  in  the  words  of  Dr.  Furman : 

"Free  tuition  was  established  in  the  State  college,  and  imme- 
diately other  colleges  felt  the  damaging  effect  in  the  with- 
drawal of  students,  lured  away  by  this  sole  consideration.  We 
will  not  charge  this  upon  the  Board  of  Trustees  as  an  inten- 
tional plan  of  injury  to  the  other  colleges,  since  they  have 
attempted  to  excuse  it  as  a  measure  necessitated  by  the  Consti- 
tution. But  since  that  position  has  been  demonstrated  to  be 
untenable,  and  the  Constitution  creates  no  such  necessity,  it 
would  have  been  a  fitting  thing  if  some  word  had  been  said 
about  this  unequal  and  unjust  state  of  things." 

The  position  maintained  by  Mr.  Capers  and  others  support- 
ing the  State  colleges  was:  First,  as  far  as  "free  tuition" 
being  leveled  at  the  denominational  colleges,  the  character 
of  the  men  on  the  board  of  trustees  should  be  a  guar- 
antee   that    no    such    ignoble    scheme    was    contemplated.* 

*Among  the  board  were  Governors  Hampton,  Simpson,  Jeter,  Hagood, 
and   Thompson,    ex-officio   chairman. 


i62  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

Second:  As  to  the  "untenable  position"  that  "the  Con- 
stitution created  no  such  a  necessity"  :  "the  Constitution  of 
1868  declared  that  the  General  Assembly  shall  provide  for  the 
maintenance  of  the  State  University  .  .  .  (sec.  10). 
All  the  public  schools,  colleges,  and  universities  of  this  State, 
supported  in  whole  or  in  part  by  the  public  funds,  shall  be 
free  and  open  to  all  the  children  and  youths  of  the  State,  with- 
out regard  to  race  or  color.  The  board  of  trustees  construe 
this  section  as  a  command  that  the  University,  being  supported 
in  part  by  the  public  funds,  must  not  only  be  open  to  all  the 
children  and  youths  of  the  State  without  regard  to  race  or 
color,  but  also  must  be  free,^ — that  is,  that  the  instruction 
therein  must  be  given  to  all  the  children  and  youths  of  the 
State  without  charge." 

This  construction  of  the  Constitution  was  not  only  accepted 
by  the  ablest  lawyers  in  the  State,  but  was  upheld  by  the  Hon. 
Leroy  F.  Youmans,  Attorney  General,  and  the  chief  and  asso- 
ciate justices  of  the  State  Supreme  Court. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Capers  gave  this  movement  his  sympathetic 
interest  and  strong  support,  accepting  invitations  to  deliver 
addresses  throughout  the  State ;  and  endeavored  to  arouse  the 
interest  of  the  people  through  the  press. 

We  give  below  an  excerpt  from  a  letter  written  to  him  by 
one  of  the  most  prominent  educators  in  South  Carolina  com- 
mending him  upon  his  course.  The  writer  was  a  prominent 
Methodist. 

"Partisan  zeal  is  the  same  one-sided,  unnecessary  thing  in 
Church  or  State.  Our  Methodist  bishop,  Mactyeire,  led  the 
way  in  a  bold  demand  (which  his  organ  endorses)  for  educa- 
tion by  denominational  colleges  and  schools  only.  I  showed 
up  his  selfishness  in  an  article  to  the  5.  C.  Advocate.  Narrow, 
selfish,  and  unpatriotic,  they  work  only  to  their  selfish  indi- 
vidual advantage.  You  spoke  as  a  South  Carolinian  rejoicing 
in  the  recuperated  strength  of  his  State,  as  a  son  in  the  halls 
of  his  ancestral  home  delighted  to  see  his  mother  arrayed  in 


ELLISON  CAPERS  163 

her  robes  of  state,  and  leading  in  the  education  of  her  sons, 
preparing  to  prescribe  a  standard  in  every  branch  of  training 
to  which  all  of  the  colleges  must  conform,  if  they  would  escape 
inferiority  by  declaring  cx-cathedra  what  shall  be  considered 
an  education  in  her  domain,  be  it  Baptist,  Methodist.  Presby- 
terian, or  Episcopal.  The  difference  between  these  positions  is 
the  difference  between  patriotism  and  party  spirit.  There  will 
be  abundant  opportunity  for  speech.  The  fight  will  last  a 
long  time." 

It  must  be  understood  that  Mr.  Capers  cheerfully  conceded 
that  denominational  colleges  served  a  high  and  noble  purpose, 
and  should  be  maintained,  but  their  maintenance  should  not 
conflict  with  or  upset  the  obligation  of  the  State  to  give  her 
sons  and  daughters  the  opportunity  for  higher  education  as  a 
natural  sequence  of  the  admitted  obligation  of  the  State  to 
give  them  the  foundation  of  an  education  through  the  public 
school  system. 

A  contributor  has  sent  the  following  anecdote :  "Dr.  J.  C. 
Furman,  president  of  Furman  University  fa  Baptist  College), 
and  Mr.  Capers  were  devoted  friends.  Dr.  Furman  was  much 
Mr.  Capers'  senior  and  always  addressed  him  as  'Ellison.' 
The  two  men  met  by  appointment  to  discuss  the  situation. 
Mr.  Capers  explained  his  attitude  to  the  Doctor;  they  parted 
feeling  that  there  was  'honor  enough  for  all,'  and  Dr.  Fur- 
man from  and  after  that  interview  gave  his  splendid  support 
to  the  State  colleges,  with  no  less  loyalty,  of  course,  to  his 
own  university  and  other  denominational  schools." 

When  the  Citadel  and  State  College  were  re-established, 
Mr.  Capers  was  frequently  mentioned  as  the  probable  head  of 
one  or  the  other.  Dr.  John  M.  McBryde,  who  became  presi- 
dent of  South  Carolina  College  in  1882,  writes:  "In  1882, 
when  T  returned  to  South  Carolina,  the  Rev.  Ellison  Capers 
was  living  in  Greenville.  When  President  Miles  resigned  in 
August  of  that  year  Mr.  Capers  was  spoken  of  through  the 
press  as  a  splendid  man  for  the  presidency  of  the  re-established 


i64  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

college.  He  at  once  made  it  known  that  he  did  not  desire  the 
position."  The  circumstances  were  similar  in  reference  to 
the  superintendency  of  the  Citadel.  He  did,  however,  accept 
the  invitation  to  deliver  the  opening  address  for  his 
alma  mater.  This  address  was  to  be  in  the  nature  of  a  re- 
sume of  the  Citadel's  work  for  the  State,  and  an  appeal  for 
loyal  and  liberal  support  from  the  citizens.  The  address  ap- 
pears in  full  elsewhere  in  this  work. 

Mr.  Capers  advocated  a  broad  and  patriotic  platform  of 
education.  He  was  honored  by  his  fellow-citizens  and  brother 
clergy,  irrespective  of  creed;  loved  by  his  old  soldiers  and 
trusted  by  the  masses  of  the  people;  while  he  enjoyed  the  con- 
fidence of  the  denominational  colleges,  and  numbered  among 
his  warm,  personal  friends  Drs.  Furman,  Duncan,  Judson; 
the  distinguished  Baptist  divine,  Dr.  John  Broadus,  and  Dr. 
Woodrow. 

Thus  Mr.  Capers  seemed  the  logical  man  for  the  office 
of  State  Superintendent  of  Education.  The  Democratic 
convention  of  August  2  nominated  him  for  that  office,  nomi- 
nating for  Governor  the  Hon.  Hugh  S.  Thompson.  Mr. 
Thompson  was  then  the  Superintendent  of  Education.  He 
was  later  appointed  United  States  Civil  Service  Commis- 
sioner by  President  Cleveland,  and  afterward  became  Auditor 
of  the  New  York  Life  Insurance  Co. 

While  the  State  convention  was  in  session  in  Columbia,  Mr. 
Capers,  all  unconscious  of  the  effort  to  draw  him  into  politics, 
was  at  his  home  in  Greenville.  In  fact,  he  was  making  every 
preparation  to  take  a  camping  trip  with  his  sons.  For  several 
summers  he  had  spent  his  vacation  in  this  manner.  He  took 
great  delight  in  this  form  of  recreation,  and  was  deeply  inter- 
ested in  instructing  his  boys  in  the  craft  of  "camp  life."  With 
him  it  revived  pleasant  memories  of  army  life,  while  we 
greatly  enjoyed  "war  stories"  told  around  the  camp-fire.  Upon 
the  occasion  of  his  nomination  the  camping  party  was  on  the 
way,  and  had  reached  Sans  Souci.  three  miles  from  town, 
when  a  messenger  overtook  us  with  a  telegram  from  Columbia, 


ELLISON  CAPERS  165 

informing  Mr.  Capers  of  his  nomination,  and  urging  his  ac- 
ceptance by  wire.  We  well  remember  his  surprise  and  evident 
distress,  as  well  as  our  sense  of  pride  and  pleasure  that  he  had 
been  thus  honored.  Being  little  fellows,  we  did  not  then  appre- 
ciate the  situation.  Immediately  he  wrote  a  telegram,  declin- 
ing the  nomination,  and  also  one  to  a  warm  personal  friend 
in  the  convention,  requesting  him  to  act  for  him  and  see  to 
it  that  his  name  was  taken  off  the  ticket.  We  then  proceeded 
on  our  way  to  the  mountains,  and  there  spent  a  very  happy 
vacation. 

The  convention  adjourned  and  the  "ticket"  was  announced, 
with  Mr.  Capers  as  the  nominee  for  State  Superintendent  of 
Education.  When  he  returned  he  found  himself  "on 
the  horns  of  a  dilemma."  The  politicians  appealed  to  his 
"patriotism,"  his  "party  obligation."  They  suggested  that  the 
educational  interest  was  clearly  a  ministerial  obligation.  When 
he  demurred,  they  put  forward  the  argument  that  he  could 
employ  a  competent  assistant  to  do  the  detail  work  and  he 
continue  his  parochial  duties,  giving  the  office  the  strength 
of  his  name  and  the  work  a  general  superv^ision.  Finally 
they  urged  him  to  allow  his  name  to  remain  on  the  ticket  until 
the  election  was  over,  and  then,  if  he  found  the  office  inter- 
fered with  his  duties  as  rector  of  Christ  Church,  he  could 
resign  the  State  office.  Further,  they  asserted  that  taking  his 
name  off  the  ticket  would  create  confusion  and  work  mate- 
rially against  party  success.  These  appeals  he  withstood  until 
some  of  the  ablest  and  best  men  in  the  State,  many  of  them 
his  lifelong  friends,  leaders  in  the  work  and  council  of  the 
Church,  began  to  urge  his  acceptance.  He  then  yielded  a 
reluctant  consent  to  give  the  proposition  a  trial,  provided  he 
had  the  consent  and  approval  of  his  bishop  and  the  vestry  and 
congregation  of  Christ  Church.  Giving  the  matter  further 
consideration,  he  decided  that  the  demand  made  upon  him 
to  foster  the  educational  interests  of  the  State  were  subordi- 
nate, under  any  circumstances,  to  his  obligations  to  the  Church, 
and   he   therefore   wrote    the   Executive   Committee   to   that 


i66  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

effect.     The  subjoined  letters  indicate  the  pressure  that  was 
brought  to  bear  on  him  to  accept  the  nomination : 

State  Normal  Institute. 

Columbia,  S.  C,  Aug.  3,  1882. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Capers: 

I  have  the  honor  to  transmit  to  you  through  this  morning's 
mail  the  following  resolution  adopted  by  the  members  of  the 
State  Normal  Institute,  assembled  in  their  rooms  to-day: 

"Whereas,  the  Democratic  State  Convention,  realizing  that 
the  promotion  of  Col.  Hugh  S.  Thompson,  our  honored  and 
successful  Superintendent  of  Education,  marks  a  crisis  in  the 
interests  of  our  educational  system,  did  on  yesterday  unani- 
mously nominate  as  his  successor  to  that  office  the  Revd. 
Ellison  Capers,  of  Greenville; 

Be  it  resolved,  that  we,  the  teachers  of  South  Carolina, 
assembled  in  the  State  Normal  Institute,  do  hereby  heartily 
endorse  the  action  of  the  Convention,  do  cordially  congratu- 
late Revd.  Mr.  Capers  on  his  having  been  chosen  under  cir- 
cumstances of  such  unusual  honor,  and  do  earnestly  urge  him 
to  hear  the  voice  of  the  people  and  to  accept  the  nomination. 

A.  P.  Henry, 
Secretary. 

Office  of  State  Superintendent  of  Education 

Charleston,  S.  C,  Aug.  3,  1882. 
Dear  Mr.  Capers  : 

It  is  rumored  here  that  you  may  not  accept  the  nomination 
of  the  convention. 

I  have  but  time  to  beg  that  you  will  not  announce  your  deci- 
sion to  decline,  if  such  should  be  your  purpose,  until  I  can 
communicate  with  you. 

I  desire  to  offer  some  suggestions  to  you  which  may  possibly 
have  weight  in  deciding  the  course  which  you  will  pursue. 


ELLISON  CAPERS  167 

I  need  not  say  how  much  pleasure  it  would  give  me  to  be 
united  with  you  on  the  same  ticket,  but  I  have  even  a  higher 
purpose  in  asking  you  not  to  decline  the  nomination. 
In  haste.  Very  truly, 

Hugh  S.  Thompson. 


Columbia  &  Greenville  Railroad, 
A.  C.  Haskell,  Pres. 

Columbia,  S.  C,  Aug.  4,  1882. 
Dear  Capers : 

I  am  not  in  politics,  but  I  was  in  the  struggle  of  1876,  and 
I  feel  a  deep  interest  in  all  that  concerns  the  State,  and  a  never 
ceasing  desire  to  see  all  done  that  can  be  done  to  secure  to 
our  people  of  both  races  the  good  which  had  a  right  to  grow 
out  of  the  triumph  of  1876.  and  which  would  have  grown, 
I  think,  without  a  break  or  halt  if  the  pledges  of  1876  had  not 
been  so  much  forgotten  as  they  were  in  1878. 

The  nomination  of  Thompson  for  Governor  is  an  assurance 
to  me.  for  he  will  stand  on  the  platform  of  1876,  and  has  the 
confidence  of  both  races. 

The  Superintendent  of  Education  is  really  the  connecting 
link  between  the  races.  He  meets  them  on  a  common  ground 
and  controls  the  formation  of  character  in  both,  and  can  best 
reach  the  heart  of  each.  It  is,  in  my  judgment,  the  most 
important  office  in  the  State,  for  it  is  the  one  which  has  direct 
means  of  doing  most  good  among  our  people  and  in  the  eyes 
of  the  world.  In  the  hands  of  a  man  not  well  fitted,  however 
worthy  he  might  be  in  other  respects,  the  office  will  be  a  failure, 
and  its  failure  is  a  foundation  of  incalculable  evil.  Of  all 
men  that  I  know,  I  should  regard  you  as  best  qualified  to 
meet  the  demands  of  this  office.  And,  so  far  from  being  in 
conflict  with  your  spiritual  charge,  it  only  magnifies  your 
field  and  enables  you  to  mingle  the  broad  principles  of  religion 
with  the  entire  training  of  the  young  people  of  the  State.     I 


i68  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

pray  that  your  conscience  and  your  judgment  will  lead  you 
to  the  acceptance  of  the  charge  which  has  thus  unexpectedly 
been  put  upon  you.  Don't  "accept  for  the  canvass,'"  but  accept 
in  earnest,  as  you  always  are,  and  take  the  trust  with  all  the 
power  that  goes  with  it,  and  make  us  all  feel  the  power  you 
have  and  be  grateful,  as  we  will  be,  that  you  have  taken  it 
and  put  it  in  exercise. 

Pardon  my  presumption,  and  further,  the  haste  with  which 
I  write,  for  the  train  is  about  to  leave  and  I  can't  express 
fully  what  I  wish  to  say. 

With  great  respect  and  regards. 

Faithfully  yours. 

A.  C.  Haskell. 

Law  Office  of  Perry  &  Perry 

Greenville,  S.  C,  Aug.  12,  1882. 

My  Dear  General  Capers  : 

I  hope  you  will  excuse  the  presumption  of  my  writing  to 
you  in  reference  to  your  acceptance  of  the  nomination  for 
Superintendent  of  Public  Education  in  South  Carolina. 

I  think  you  should  by  all  means  accept  the  position.  I 
would  by  no  means  give  such  advice  if  your  acceptance  re- 
quired you  to  give  up  the  rectorship  of  your  church,  but  I  am 
sure  you  can  perform  both  duties  without  much  difficulty. 
Education  is  in  the  line  of  your  profession  and  not  at  all  con- 
nected with  party  politics. 

The  salary  is  $2100,  and  you  have  a  clerk  with  a  salary  of 
$1200,  who  can  do  most  of  the  office  business.  You  owe  it 
to  your  family,  as  well  as  to  your  country,  to  accept  the  office. 

Let  me  entreat  you  to  consider  well  your  duty  to  your  inter- 
esting and  growing  family  before  you  refuse  an  office  worth 
$3,300.  It  will  place  you,  with  your  salary  from  your  Church, 
above  want,  and  by  industry  you  can  discharge  all  your  duties 


ELLISON  CAPERS  169 

to  both  and  be  of  service  to  your  country  and  the  cause  of 
education  With  great  respect,  etc., 

B.  F.  Perry.* 

Philadelphia,  Aug.  9,  1882. 
Dear  Sir: 

I  see  by  a  Charleston  paper  that  you  have  been  nominated 
for  Superintendent  of  Education.  The  State  can  get  no  better 
man,  and  I  heartily  congratulate  it,  and  yourself  also,  if  the 
office  is  one  of  either  pleasure  or  profit. 

I  wish  I  were  a  citizen  of  South  Carolina,  for  the  election 
day  at  least,  and  I  trust  you  will  largely  lead  the  ticket. 

Very  truly  yours, 

W.  C.  Patterson,  Jr. 

Office  of  the  Deutsche  Zeitung 
F.  Melchers  &  Son,  Proprietors 

Charleston,  S.  C,  Aug.  3,  1882. 
Dear  Sir: 

As  an  old  friend  and  comrade,  I  desire  to  add  my  congratu- 
lations to  the  host  of  friends  you  have,  to  your  nomination  as 
Superintendent  of  Education.  You  did  not  seek  the  office,  but 
the  office  sought  you.  As  the  right  man  in  the  right  place  you 
will  no  doubt  do  your  part  to  the  regeneration  of  our  good 
old  State. 

With  a  Thompson  at  the  helm  and  with  your  ripe  experi- 
ence at  the  head  of  education,  the  State  must  make  rapid 
strides  forward. 

Advanced  education  is  the  watchword  of  the  world  now. 
The  pen  is  mightier  than  the  sword. 

I  must  congratulate  the  State  for  having  called  you  to  the 
position  of  Superintendent  of  Education. 

With  respect.  Yours  truly, 

F.  Melchers. 

*Mr.   Perry  was    Provisional   Governor  of   South  Carolina. — Ed. 


I/O  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

Peru,  Hillsboro  Co.,  Fla.,  Aug.  23,  1882, 
My  Dear  Ellison  : 

I  hope  the  congratulation  of  an  old  friend  upon  your  nomi- 
nation to  the  important  office  of  Superintendent  of  Education 
by  the  late  Democratic  Convention  in  South  Carolina  will  not 
be  unpleasant  to  you. 

It  has  been  delayed  until  I  could  see  your  acceptance,  for 
which  I  have  anxiously  looked.  That  pleasing  intelligence  was 
conveyed  to  me  upon  the  receipt  of  my  Anderson  paper  yes- 
terday. 

My  removal  from  South  Carolina  has  not  diminished  my 
interest  in  her  welfare,  and  I  assure  you,  my  friend,  that  the 
nomination  of  Hugh  Thompson  and  yourself  for  the  two 
offices  of  highest  importance  in  the  State,  while  personally 
pleasing  to  me,  are  assurances  equally  that  my  old  State  is 
alive  to  her  best  interest  and  welfare. 

I  hope  and  believe  that  the  choice  of  the  convention  will  be 
overwhelmingly  reiterated  as  the  voice  of  the  whole  people, 
or  at  any  rate,  its  best  element. 

With  sincere  regards,  I  am, 

Yours  very  truly, 

G.  H.  Symmes. 


The  view  point  of  i\Ir.  Capers  is  clearly  given  in  the  fol- 
lowing letter ; 

To  Gen.  Jas.  F.  Izlar,  Chairman,  etc. 

My  Dear  Sir:  The  reluctant  consent  I  gave  to  the  executive 
committee  to  accept  the  nomination  of  the  convention  for  the 
office  of  State  Superintendent  of  Public  Instruction  places  me 
in  a  position  I  cannot  consent  longer  to  hold. 

If  elected  to  this  office  by  the  people  I  am  bound  in  honor 
to  enter  upon  the  earnest  discharge  of  its  duties. 

I  am  satisfied,  after  a  careful  review  of  the  duties  of  the 
office  as  defined  in  the  statute,  that  I  could  not  be  a  faithful 


ELLISON  CAPERS  171 

superintendent  of   education   and   remain   the   rector   of   my 
parish. 

The  claims  of  the  latter  are  paramount,  and  must  command 
my  unqualified  consideration. 

This  has  been  my  conviction  from  the  first  intimation  I  had 
of  my  nomination,  but  I  was  constrained  to  yield  it  to  the 
opinions  and  wishes  of  others,  and  especially  in  deference  to 
the  urgent  request  that  I  should  defer  to  a  later  period  my 
final  determination. 

After  a  review  of  my  action,  I  am  satisfied  that  I  have  erred 
in  thus  yielding  my  consent  to  the  nomination  against  my  con- 
victions, and  that  my  duty  now  is  to  make  as  full  a  correction 
of  my  action  as  I  can. 

To  my  fellow-citizens  who  have  conferred  upon  me  their 
confidence  I  am  most  sincerely  grateful.  If  I  could  serve  them 
in  the  office  to  which  they  have  called  me  without  detriment 
to  the  higher  service  which  for  their  sakes  I  feel  bound  to 
maintain,  I  would  not  hesitate  a  moment. 

I  attach  no  blame  whatever  to  anyone  but  myself  for  the 
awkwardness  of  this  withdrawal.  With  my  best  wishes  for 
the  full  and  highest  success  of  the  approaching  canvass,  I 
hereby  resign  my  nomination  as  the  candidate  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party  of  South  Carolina  for  the  office  of  State  Superin- 
tendent of  Education. 

With  great  respect,  I  am,  your  obedient  servant, 

Ellison  Capers. 

Office  of  James  F.  Izlar, 
Chairman  of   the  Democratic    Executive   Committee. 

Orangeburg,  S.  C,  Aug.  24,  1882, 
Revd.  Ellison  Capers, 

Greenville,  S.  C. 
My  Dear  Sir:    Your  letter   declining  the  nomination  of 
State  Superintendent  of   Education  was  received  yesterday. 
I  regret  exceedingly  to  give  you  up.     Your  nomination  gave 


172  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

entire  satisfaction.  I  was  in  hopes  that  you  would  find  the 
office  compatible  with  your  higher  calling,  and  suffer  your 
name  to  remain  on  the  ticket,  be  elected,  and  serve  the  people 
in  this  important  position.  Upon  calmer  reflection,  however, 
I  must  say  that  I,  at  least,  am  satisfied  that  you  have  acted 
wisely. 

I  received  a  letter  from  our  beloved  bishop  asking  that  you 
be  relieved,  and  giving  fully  his  views. 

I  have  issued  a  call  for  a  meeting  of  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee on  the  29th  inst.  Your  letter  will  be  laid  before  the 
committee  and  I  feel  sure  the  committee  will  relieve  you. 

Your  letter,  as  requested,  shall  be  published. 

I  will  telegraph  you  from  Columbia  the  action  of  the  com- 
mittee, and  you  can  then  publish  also  the  letter  in  the  Green- 
ville papers. 

I  am,  very  truly  and  fraternally, 

Jas.  F.  Izlar. 

The  letters  following  present  the  viewpoint  of  friends  who 
rejoiced  that  Mr.  Capers  declined  the  nomination : 

Bishop's  House 

Charleston,,  Aug.  24,  1882. 
Dear  Brother  Capers  : 

Yours  to  General  Blair  just  in,  and  it  puts  you,  as  I  see  it, 
all  right  before  the  Church  and  before  the  State.  If  you  made 
a  mistake  in  accepting  temporarily  the  nomination,  under  the 
strongest  kind  of  pressure,  which  nobody  else  in  the  State 
would  have  been  subjected  to — for  I  know  no  one  so  popular 
as  yourself— you  have  more  nobly  redeemed  your  mistake. 
I  believe  that  so  far  from  limiting  the  prospects  of  the  Demo- 
cratic party,  it  will  in  the  long  run  help  them.  What  all  good 
men  sigh  to  see  is  some  touch  of  conscience  in  our  politics,  and 
I  am  sure  they  will  welcome  this  evidence  of  what  you  have 
given.  That  so  popular  a  man  as  yourself  has  withdrawn,  and 
for  conscience'  sake,  will  tell  for  good. 


ELLISON  CAPERS  173 

Of  course,  my  dear  brother,  you  will  be  sharply  criticised. 
It  will  be  said  you  should  have  thought  of  all  these  things  you 
mention  in  your  letter  before,  etc.,  but  if  words  hurt,  and  no 
doubt  they  will,  do  you  just  look  right  straight  into  heaven 
to  Him  whom  St.  Stephen  saw.  He  knows  all  about  it,  a 
great  deal  more  than  newspapers.  I  think,  too,  it  is  better 
for  you  to  come  right  out,  as  you  have  done,  and  look  the 
State  in  the  eye  and  say :  "I  have  been  mistaken,"  than  for 
me,  as  Bishop,  to  have  expressed  to  you  a  "godly  judgment," 
not  because  I  am  unwilling  to  back  you  up,  but  because  when 
one  feels  a  mistake  has  been  made  there  is  something  bracing 
in  standing  up  as  you  have  done. 

And  I  am  sure  your  course  will  comfort  a  great  many  of 
your  friends  here  in  Charleston.  I  have  not  seen  many  to  talk 
with,  but  all  I  have  met  expressed  regret  at  your  acceptance. 
You  heard  one  side  and  I  heard  the  other,  and  all  will  rejoice 
that  the  diocese  is  not  to  lose  the  services  of  one  of  her  most 
effective  clergymen. 

May  God  bless  you,  dear  Brother  Capers,  and  keep  you, 
through  Jesus  our  Lord. 

Affectionately, 

W.  B.  W.  Howe. 

Law  Office  of  Simonton  &  Barker 

Charleston,  S.  C,  Sept.  i,  1882. 
My  Dear  Capers  : 

I  sincerely  congratulate  you  on  your  high  and  manly  letter. 
I  could  not  answer  your  letter  written  to  me  from  Columbia 
because  you  did  not  ask  my  opinion  or  advice  as  to  your 
"reluctant  assent"  to  the  request  of  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee. 

I  could  not  have  answered  your  letter  frankly  without  vol- 
unteering my  opinion,  and  therefore  adopted  the  alternative 
of  letting  your  letter  go  by  unanswered,  as  if  I  were  indifferent 
to  the  painful  conflict  through  which  you  were  passing. 


174  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

Your  action,  uninfluenced  by  opinion  or  advice  from  me, 
releases  me  from  the  enforced  silence,  and  permits  as  well  as 
prompts  me  to  express  to  you  my  very  great  sympathy.  Your 
best  impulse,  the  desire  to  serve  the  State,  as  the  partiality  of 
warm  and  admiring  friends  told  you  you  could  do,  has  sub- 
jected you  to  a  great  risk  of  being  placed  in  an  untrue  posi- 
tion from  which  your  manliness  and  moral  courage  has  rescued 
you. 

I  was  doubly  bound  to  keep  from  advice  to  you.  I  had 
warned  the  convention  that  it  would  by  its  action  cause  you, 
or  the  party,  perhaps  both,  great  embarrassment.  They  would 
not  listen  to  me,  and  the  trouble  came.  I  was  in  position  to 
say,  "I  told  you  so." 

If  I  had  advised  you,  or  expressed  to  you  my  opinion,  that 
you  should  withdraw,  the  committee  (and  the  public)  might 
say,  "His  wish  (to  prove  that  his  warning  to  the  Convention 
was  well  taken)  prompts  his  advice  to  Mr.  Capers  to  decline 
the  nomination.  He  thus  contributes  to  create  the  embarrass- 
ment he  predicted."  So  I  kept  silent — and  waited  for  the  time 
when  I  could  tell  you  the  reason  why  I  did  not  reply  to  your 
letter  from  Columbia.  I  know  you  must  feel  better  in  getting 
yourself  clear  of  the  scrape  even  at  the  risk  of  being  con- 
demned for  "embarrassing  the  party,"  and  for  "not  knowing 
your  mind,  etc.,"  but  it  is  infinitely  better  to  carry  this  light 
load  of  unreasonable  reproach  (if  any  there  be  who  fail  to 
sympathize  with  your  action  in  withdrawing)  than  to  have 
gone  on,  as  your  letter  to  me  told  me  you  wxre  going,  on  a 
false  basis — one  which  you  felt  to  be  "too  insincere." 

In  what  I  did  and  said  in  the  convention  I  felt  that  I  was 
acting  best  the  part  of  true  friendship.  I  also  knew  that  if  I 
voted  against  your  nomination  on  that  line  (which  I  did,  by 
the  way),  no  one  would  more  readily  appreciate  the  friendship 
expressed  in  the  vote  than  yourself. 

Yours  sincerely, 

Theodore  G.  Barker. 


ELLISON  CAPERS  175 

The  Piedmont  Mfg.  Co. 
H.  P.  Hammett,  Pres.  and  Treas. 

Greenville,  S.  C,  Aug.  31,  1882. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Capers  : 

At  the  risk  of  appearing  presuming,  I  desire  to  congratulate 
you  upon  the  firmness  you  have  exhibited  in  following  the 
convictions  of  your  judgment  and  withdrawing  from  the  can- 
didacy for  Superintendent  of  Education. 

I  felt  great  solicitude  about  it.  I  would  not,  however,  have 
presumed  to  advise  you,  or  intrude  my  opinion,  while  you 
were  a  candidate.  My  opinion  is  that  when  anyone  who  has 
chosen  the  holy  profession  of  minister  of  the  gospel  allows 
himself  to  be  drawn  into  a  struggle  for  a  political  office,  he 
very  seriously  jeopardizes  his  usefulness  as  a  minister.  For, 
however  pure  his  motives  may  be,  or  whatever  of  a  personal 
nature  influences  him  to  accept  it,  his  motives  are  misrepre- 
sented and  misunderstood. 

There  are  plenty  of  competent  men  in  the  State  well  quali- 
fied and  of  the  highest  character  who  would  gladly  accept  the 
office,  and  in  whose  case  there  would  be  no  impropriety  in 
doing  so,  but,  on  the  contrary,  the  greatest  propriety;  but  in 
my  judgment  they  are  not  prominent  ministers  of  the  gospel. 

Perhaps  I  am  risking  a  great  deal  in  thus  speaking  plainly 
my  opinion,  but  I  do  so  with  the  purest  motives  and  the  kind- 
est feelings  of  friendship.  No  one  can  possibly  have  a  higher 
idea  than  myself  of  the  exalted  office  of  a  pure  Christian  min- 
ister of  our  holy  religion,  and  I  want  to  see  it  forever  sepa- 
rated from  the  politics  of  the  State. 

If  you  feel  that  you  want  to  do  something  to  increase  your 
income,  and  you  feel  that  you  can  have  the  time  to  do  it  with- 
out neglecting  your  pastoral  duties,  I  suggest  that  you  teach 
a  boys'  school  in  Greenville.  You  can  have  a  large  one.  I 
will  send  two  to  you.  I  think  a  first-class  school  of  that  kind 
here  a  great  necessity,  and  many  others  think  so. 


176  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

Pardon  me  the  liberty  I  have  thus  taken,  and  the  haste 
with  which  I  have  been  compelled  to  throw  my  thoughts  to- 
gether this  morning  before  leaving  for  Piedmont,  and  believe 
me,  Your  friend  and  well  wisher, 

H.  P.  Hammett. 

The  Rectory 

Beaufort,  S.  C,  Aug.  30,  1882. 
My  Dear  Capers  : 

When  some  two  weeks  ago  I  saw  in  the  papers  that  you  had 
accepted  the  nomination  of  the  Democracy  for  State  Superin- 
tendent of  Education  I  was,  metaphorically,  "knocked  into  a 
cocked  hat,"  for  I  had  been  so  confident  that  you  would  not 
accept  that  I  had  serenely  smiled  and  said  so  to  several  per- 
sons. I  thought  of  writing  to  you  then,  but  I  came  home  to 
find  Mrs.  Kershaw  quite  seriously  sick  and  was  in  harness 
as  chief-nurse  from  that  day  to  this,  so  that  I  could  not  find 
time  to  do  the  subject  justice.  She  is  better  now,  and  your 
own  manly,  frank,  and  courageous  action  as  shown  in  your 
letter  published  to-day  relieves  me  of  any  further  anxiety  on 
the  subject,  as  well  as  from  arguing  it  with  you  and  showing 
you  how  it  struck  a  friend  and  admirer. 

I  know  you  were  never  for  a  moment  disloyal  in  heart  or 
thought  to  the  Church  or  to  your  sacred  office  in  the  same. 

Your  real  friends,  and  they  are  many  and  sincere,  will 
honor  you  more  than  ever,  and  there  are  few  who  will  not 
agree  with  you  that  the  claims  of  the  Church  are  paramount. 

I  know  you  will  pardon  my  freedom  of  expression  in  con- 
sideration of  my  sincere  friendship  and  affection  for  you. 

Faithfully  your  friend, 

John  Kershaw. 

Office  of  State  Superintendent  of  Education 

Columbia,  S.  C,  Aug.  28,  1882. 
My  Dear  Ellison  : 

Your  letter  caused  me  much  surprise,  but  far  more  regret. 


ELLISON  CAPERS  177 

I  can  well  understand  the  struggle  that  you  have  had  in  order 
to  decide  what  your  duty  is.  I  know  that  it  would  have  been 
much  more  natural  and  easy  to  heed  the  voice  of  the  thousands 
who  desire  you  to  be  the  Superintendent  of  Education  than  to 
listen  to  "the  still,  small  voice"  which  bids  you  remain  at  your 
post  of  duty. 

I  infer  from  your  letter  that  you  have  notified  the  executive 
committee  of  your  determination  to  decline  the  nomination. 
The  committee  will  meet  here  Tuesday  night,  and  I  presume 
that  some  action  will  then  be  taken. 

I  need  not  tell  you  that  while  personally  and  officially  I 
deeply  regret  your  withdrawal  from  the  ticket,  I  accept  it  as 
the  result  of  your  conviction  of  duty. 

I  feel  sure  that  the  executive  committee  will  take  this  view 
of  the  matter,  much  as  they  will  lament  your  withdrawal. 

Most  sincerely, 

Hugh  S.  Thompson. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

ELECTION  TO  THE  DIOCESE  OF  EASTON 

We  referred  in  a  preceding  chapter  to  Mr.  Capers'  increas- 
ing activity  in  missionary  work,  especially  in  the  upper  sec- 
tion of  the  State.  His  election  as  secretary  and  treasurer  of 
the  Diocesan  Board  of  Missions  was  in  recognition  of  the 
efficiency  of  this  work.  Under  the  canons  of  the  diocese,  the 
secretary  and  treasurer  of  the  Mission  Board  was  the  execu- 
tive and  administrative  representative  in  this  most  important 
department  of  the  Church's  work.  Mr.  Capers  was  also 
elected  secretary  of  the  Diocesan  Council.  From  1874  until 
he  was  elevated  to  the  episcopate  in  1893,  he  was  a  dele- 
gate from  the  diocese  of  South  Carolina  to  the  General  Con- 
ventions of  the  Church. 

The  increasing  burdens  of  Bishop  Howe's  episcopate,  grow- 
ing out  of  the  "negro  question"  in  the  Church,  led  him  to 
throw  upon  Mr.  Capers  the  whole  burden,  if  not  responsibility, 
of  the  missionary  work  of  the  diocese. 

There  were  "breakers  ahead"  for  Bishop  Howe  in  the  ad- 
ministration of  his  diocese.  In  rendering  the  bishop  and 
diocese  a  faithful  service  during  these  distressing  years  of 
strife  and  dissension  Mr.  Capers  was  unconsciously  ripening 
his  own  experience  for  "the  office  and  work  of  a  bishop  in  the 
Church  of  God." 

Christ  Church  continued  to  grow  and  prosper  under  the 
devoted  pastorate  of  Mr.  Capers.  An  attractive  Sunday 
school  building  was  erected,  which  stands  to-day  as  a  monu- 
ment to  his  work  and  the  loyal  co-operation  of  the  congrega- 
tion.    The  church  was  enlarged  by  the  addition  of  transept 

178 


ELLISON  CAPERS  179 

and  chancel,  and  new  heating  and  lighting  plants  were  in- 
stalled. The  work  and  sacrifices  of  past  years  were  bearing 
fruit,  while  each  succeeding  year  gave  promise  of  a  brighter 
future.  His  ministry  in  Greenville  had  now  been  of  such 
duration  that  he  was  frequently  called  upon  to  marry  couples 
whom  in  their  infancy  he  had  baptized.  The  rising  genera- 
tion looked  to  him  as  their  "father  in  God,"  while  he  led  his 
own  congregation  with  a  shepherd's  care,  and  the  community 
regarded  him  "a.  master  in  Israel." 

The  war  had  wrecked  Mrs.  Capers'  health.  Though  active 
and  energetic,  she  was  never  strong  after  her  war  experience. 
Of  rather  slight  stature,  with  delicate  classic  features,  clear 
blue  eyes  and  patrician  brow,  she  retained  her  personal  beauty 
through  long  years  of  semi-invalidism.  Her  indomitable  will 
and  untiring  energy  enabled  her  to  meet  the  demands  of  her 
large  household,  and  also  to  take  an  active  part  in  the  work  of 
the  parish.  But  it  became  necessary  for  her  to  be  spared  the 
heat  of  summer,  even  in  so  invigorating  a  climate  as  that  of 
Greenville.  With  that  tender,  faithful  guardianship  her  hus- 
band exercised  over  her  health,  and  his  untiring  endeavor  to 
save  her  strength,  he  now  determined  to  purchase  a  small 
place,  somewhere  in  the  mountains,  to  which  he  could  take 
his  family  during  the  hot  season.  In  1886  he  purchased  a 
few  acres  at  Cedar  Mountain,  North  Carolina,  where  the 
elevation  was  about  three  thousand  feet  above  the  sea  level. 
The  purchase  consisted  of  fifteen  acres,  with  an  humble  cot- 
tage. 

The  plan  for  occupation  was  to  ''rough  it"  through  the 
summers;  therefore  the  furnishings  were  rather  scanty  and 
most  primitive.  The  little  house  and  mode  of  life  suggested 
the  name  "Camp  Cottage."  Thirty-two  miles  by  dirt  road 
from  Greenville,  this  mountain  home  was  reached  in  a  day's 
drive.  There  being  no  railroad,  provisions  were  hauled  by 
wagon. 

Hotel  de  Gower  was  soon  built  at  Cedar  Mountain  and  the 
place  became  a  popular  resort.     For  more  than  twenty  years 


i8o  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

"Camp  Cottage"  was  the  summer  rendezvous  for  the  Capers 
family.  Bishop  Capers  spent  his  vacations  there,  and  as  his 
OAvn  children  grew  to  manhood  and  womanhood,  and  became 
"heads  of  families,"  he  and  Mrs.  Capers  lived  their  lives  over 
again  in  their  grandchildren.  This  younger  generation 
idolized  their  grandfather,  while  he  was  never  too  busy  or 
absorbed  in  his  work  to  lay  it  aside  and  do  something  for  the 
childrens'  pleasure.  He  "carpentered"  for  the  little  boys  as 
industriously  as  though  his  living  depended  upon  it,  and  al- 
ways with  infinite  delight  to  himself  and  to  the  joy  of  the 
children. 

Here  in  the  mountains  "vacation"  for  him  was  one  only  in 
the  sense  that  he  changed  the  scene  of  his  activities.  A  part  of 
every  day  he  was  in  his  office  engaged  in  an  enormous  cor- 
respondence; the  remainder  of  the  day  he  spent  in  manual 
labor  or  devoted  it  in  some  way  to  promote  the  pleasure  of 
others.  On  Sundays  he  regularly  preached  for  the  moun- 
taineers in  their  churches.  Their  estimate  of  him  was  proba- 
bly summed  up  in  the  declaration  of  their  justice  of  the  peace, 
when  he  said :  "I  reckon  that  Bishop  Capers  and  Saint  Paul 
was  two  of  the  greatest  preachers  and  biggest  men  that  ever 
lived."  This  encomium  was  given  a  practical  turn  when  he 
was  stricken  with  paralysis  in  their  midst,  for  they  nursed 
him  with  tender,  manly  care,  and  throughout  that  summer  the 
community  stood  "on  call"  to  render  any  assistance  pos- 
sible. 

In  the  summer  of  1894  Mrs.  Capers  realized  the  fulfillment 
of  her  long  cherished  plan  to  have  an  Episcopal  chapel  erected 
for  the  use  of  summer  visitors.  Bishop  Horner's  consent 
being  secured,  and  a  neighbor  giving  the  lot.  Bishop  Capers 
devoted  a  summer  to  building  the  little  chapel.  The  expense 
of  the  enterprise  was  borne  in  a  large  measure  by  the  Capers 
family.  When  the  little  church  was  complete,  it  was  named 
by  Mrs.  Capers  "Faith  Chapel."  Until  the  last  illness  of 
the  bishop  services  were  regularly  conducted  in  this  mountain- 
girt  temple  of  prayer  and  praise. 


ELLISON  CAPERS  i8i 

The  vacation  seasons  at  "Camp  Cottage"  went  merrily  by. 
For  many  years  Mrs.  Capers'  health  was  greatly  improved  by 
this  change  of  climate.  Bishop  Capers'  interest  in  the  moun- 
tain home  grew  with  -the  passing  years.  The  rude  cottage 
originally  on  the  place  was  torn  down  and  a  more  commodious 
one  built  on  the  summit  of  the  hill.  Here  gigantic  boulders 
and  forest  trees  gave  a  unique  picturesqueness  to  the  new 
location. 

"Camp  Cottage"  now  commanded  an  inspiring  view 
of  range  after  range  of  near  and  distant  mountains,  with  their 
intervening  valleys  lying  in  the  shades  of  purple  mist.  The 
lawn,  the  winding  driveway  from  gate  to  residence,  spring 
house,  outbuildings,  and  even  the  additions  to  the  house  itself, 
were  all  the  work  of  Bishop  Capers'  faithful  and  industrious 
hands. 

We  recall  a  thrilling  incident  in  connection  with  this  "Camp 
Cottage"  life  in  which  Mr.  Capers  and  one  of  his  sons  almost 
lost  their  lives.  While  living  in  Greenville  he  and  William 
were  bringing  a  load  of  provisions  from  Greenville  to  the 
Cottage.  It  was  a  rainy  season.  The  roads  were  heavy  and 
streams  swollen.  After  a  laborious  day,  night  overtook  them 
at  the  foot  of  the  mountains,  with  yet  eight  miles  of  steady 
ascent.  The  rain  came  down  in  torrents  and  the  mountain 
streams  were  booming.  William  suggested  to  his  father  that 
they  tether  the  horses  and  camp  out  for  the  night,  sleeping  in 
the  covered  wagon.  But  declaring  he  would  greet  his  "bride" 
and  family  that  night,  Mr.  Capers  insisted  on  going  ahead, 
William  rode  forward  on  horseback  and  carried  the  lantern; 
by  its  light  Mr.  Capers  drove  the  wagon.  Slowly  and  labori- 
ously the  old  horse  tugged  his  load  up  the  slippery  mountain 
road. 

By  midnight  they  had  reached  the  last  stream  they  would 
have  to  ford.  It  was  near  the  top  of  the  mountain,  and  the 
direction  of  the  ford  was  diagonal,  up  stream.  It  looked  dan- 
gerous and  William  demurred,  thinking  not  of  his  own,  but 
of  his  father's  safety.     But  "the  General's"  blood  was  up.    He 


i82  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

had  turned  knight-errant,  and  vowed  he  would  see  his  "lady" 
before  morning.  He  directed  his  son  to  ride  the  horse  through 
the  stream  and  try  the  current.  William  dashed  in  with  fine 
spirit  and  the  horse  floundered  through  and  returned  by  the 
same  course.  Then  leading  on  horseback,  with  lantern  in 
hand,  William  rode  in  again,  and  Mr.  Capers  drove  the  wagon 
in  after  him.  "Old  Charlie,"  the  horse,  went  through  all 
right,  until  they  struck  midstream  and  he  attempted  to  pull 
against  the  current.  Striking  the  wagon  with  full  force,  the 
flood  pushed  it  back,  and  the  horse  was  swept  off  his  feet.  A 
cataract  was  not  more  than  a  hundred  steps  below  the  ford, 
and  though  "Charlie"  had  struggled  to  his  feet,  and  Mr. 
Capers  was  out  in  the  water  endeavoring  to  cut  the  harness 
loose  from  the  horse,  they  were  being  borne  steadily  down 
stream.  Fortunately  an  intervening  tree  stopped  the  progress 
of  the  wagon.  But  the  current  was  now  so  swift  that  Mr. 
Capers  could  not  keep  his  feet  without  holding  to  the  wagon. 
A  log,  washed  from  a  sawmill  above,  struck  him  with  tre- 
mendous force,  and  he  was  only  saved  from  drowning  by 
clinging  to  the  side  of  the  wagon.  The  log  pushing  against 
his  shoulders  held  him  fast,  and  it  was  only  a  matter  of  time 
when,  becoming  exhausted,  he  would  have  to  release  his  hold 
and  be  swept  down  stream. 

William  had  led  "Charlie"  out  and,  returning  on  his  horse, 
saw  his  father  in  this  perilous  situation.  He  dashed  to  his 
rescue  and,  standing  on  the  wagon,  now  held  firmly  against 
the  trees,  he  succeeded  in  so  manipulating  the  log  as  to  make 
the  current  float  it  around  the  rear  of  the  wagon,  when,  v/ith 
his  assistance,  his  father  regained  his  footing  in  the  bed  of 
the  stream  and  scrambled  over  the  wheel  into  the  wagon 
body. 

The  thumping  of  the  log  against  his  neck  and  shoulders 
bruised  him  badly,  but  they  managed  to  gain  the  shore,  and 
mounting  their  horses,  they  galloped  away,  two  miles  and  a 
half  to  Cedar  Mountain.  This  terrible  experience,  instead  of 
exhausting  Mr.  Capers,  seemed  to  exhilarate  him,  and  we  re- 


ELLISON  CAPERS  183 

call  how  gayly  he  galloped  into  the  yard,  and  made  known 
his  presence.  William  was  terribly  exhausted,  and  very  pale. 
Coming  into  the  house  he  was  given  immediate  attention,  and 
"rubbed  down"  under  the  direction  of  his  father,  who  gave 
as  a  reason  for  his  apparently  not  feeling  any  bad  effects 
from  the  ordeal  through  which  he  had  passed,  that  "old  sol- 
diers are  used  to  roughing  it;  we  got  tough  in  the  war." 

In  1886  the  Rev.  Mr.  Capers  was  elected  bishop  of  the 
diocese  of  Easton,  Md.  In  its  effort  to  select  a  suitable  man 
to  succeed  the  lamented  Bishop  Lay  in  this  important  field, 
the  Diocesan  Convention  adopted  a  rather  novel  plan  of  "dis- 
covering" a  bishop.  The  convention  instructed  the  delegates 
to  the  General  Convention,  to  be  convened  in  Chicago  the  fol- 
lowing October,  to  use  their  best  endeavor  to  agree,  if  pos- 
sible, upon  one  of  the  clergy  delegates  to  the  convention  to 
fill  the  episcopate  of  Easton.  Their  decision  was  given  unani- 
mously in  favor  of  Mr.  Capers,  who  was  in  due  time  elected 
to  Easton.  From  the  numerous  letters  he  received,  urging  his 
acceptance,  the  choice  of  the  Chicago  delegation  seems  to  have 
met  with  universal  approval  throughout  the  diocese. 

In  writing  to  J.  L.  Adkins,  president  of  the  Easton  National 
Bank,  and  also  treasurer  of  the  diocese.  Rev.  Dr.  Barber, 
president  of  the  Standing  Committee,  says: 

"I  reached  home  on  Saturday  morning,  quite  tired  out  with 
my  journey.  For  once  I  could  not  take  much  interest  in  the 
proceedings  of  the  General  Convention.  Of  the  several  simi- 
lar gatherings  in  which  I  have  participated,  this  one  has  been 
the  least  satisfactory  and  attractive,  but  if  Mr.  Capers  replies 
favorably  I  shall  look  back  with  delight  and  thankfulness.  I 
had  several  conversations  with  this  presbyter  after  you  left, 
and  he  won  my  very  heart.  Oh,  that  the  Divine  Spirit  may 
dispose  him  to  come  to  us.  He  would  just  suit  our  diocese, 
and  everybody  would  be  content." 

Mr.  Adkins,  urging  the  call  upon  Mr.  Capers,  inclosed  the 
Barber  letter.  The  following  letter  from  the  historian,  Dr. 
Stearns,  is  of  interest,  as  is  the  memorandum  Bishop  Capers 


i84  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

made  on  the  letter,  giving  his  opinion  of  the  Doctor's  book, 
"The  Faith  of  Our  Forefathers." 


Easton,  Maryland, 

Oct.  28,  1886. 
Rev.  and  Dear  Brother: 

Some  two  weeks  ago  I  wrote  to  one  of  our  deputation  in  the 
General  Convention,  expressing  the  hope  that  the  deputation 
would  be  able,  while  in  Chicago,  to  agree  upon  someone  for 
bishop  of  this  diocese,  and  adding  that  I  believed  that  anyone 
on  whom  they  should  unanimously  agree  would  be  unani- 
mously elected  by  our  convention.  I  have  since  learned  that 
their  unanimous  choice  has  fallen  upon  you,  and  that  they  are 
enthusiastic  in  their  preference  of  you  over  any  and  all  others. 
I  need  not  add  that  I  am  in  hearty  accord  with  them,  and  I 
earnestly  hope  that  nothing  may  stand  in  the  way  of  your 
acceptance.  I  know  the  people  of  this  Eastern  Shore  thor- 
oughly, and  can  assure  you  of  a  hearty  welcome,  and  that 
you  will  feel  yourself  at  home  among  them  from  the  outset. 

Faithfully  yours  in  Christ, 

(Signed)     E.  I.  Stearns. 

"Dr.  Stearns  is  an  old  man,*  retired  from  work  and  devoted 
to  writing.  He  is  author  of  several  books,  notably  a  reply 
to  Archbishop  Gibbons'  "Faith  of  Our  Fathers."  The  arch- 
bishop's book  is  a  very  able  and  very  plausible  presentation  of 
the  tenets  of  the  Roman  Church  in  popular  form.  Stearns' 
book,  "Faith  of  Our  Forefathers,"  is,  to  my  mind,  a  conclu- 
sive reply  far  better  than  Bishop  Hopkins'  reply  to  Arch- 
bishop Hughes'  "End  of  Controversy."  Bishop  Hopkins' 
book  is  "The  End  of  Controversy  Controverted."  Dr.  Stearns 
is  said  to  have  the  most  valuable  collection  of  ancient  books 
in  any  private  American  library.  He  is  a  gentle,  humble,  old 
man,  and  is  a  very  earnest  Christian." 

*This  is  Dr.  Capers'  comment. 


ELLISON  CAPERS  185 

Dr.  Capers'  letter  declining  the  Episcopate  of  the  Diocese 
of  Easton. 

Rectory,  Christ  Church, 

Greenville,  S.  C,  Nov.  8,  1886. 

To  THE  Rev.  Theo.  P.  Barber,  D.  D,.  Rev.  Francis  W. 
HiLLiARD,  Rev.  Enoch  K.  Miller,  Rev.  Algeman 
Batte,  and  Messrs.  J.  L.  Adkins,  M.  D.,  G.  R.  Golds- 
BORo,  W.  S.  Walker,  and  R.  C.  Mackall,  M.  D., 
Deputies. 

Dear  Brethren:  In  compliance  with  our  understanding  I 
have  given  the  subject  of  my  election  to  the  episcopate  of 
Easton  a  most  earnest  consideration,  with  a  sincere  desire,  if 
I  know  my  own  heart,  to  do  my  duty  alike  to  my  family  and  to 
the  Church. 

I  cannot,  my  dear  brethren,  see  it  to  be  my  duty  to  accept  the 
nomination  of  your  convention. 

I  have  a  large  family.  Three  of  my  sons  and  a  daughter 
are  prosecuting  their  education  here.  Two  of  my  sons  are  at 
college  in  Furman  University,  located  in  this  city,  and  the 
third  will  enter  the  freshman  class  next  year.  To  have  my 
sons  prosecute  their  collegiate  studies  while  residing  at  home 
is  an  advantage  to  them  and  a  great  pecuniary  consideration 
to  me. 

This,  with  a  sacred  duty  I  owe  to  a  widowed  sister  and 
her  blind  child,  who  are  partially  dependent  upon  me  for  sup- 
port, constrain  me  to  feel  confirmed  in  my  original  conviction 
that  I  could  not  assume  the  obligations  of  the  episcopate  of 
Easton. 

The  kind,  generous,  and  trustful  spirit  you  have  manifested 
towards  me,  my  dear  brethren,  draws  my  heart  to  you,  and 
makes  me  feel  deeply  your  disappointment.  I  deplore  your 
discouragements  and  pray  God  to  give  you  a  better  man  for 
the  work  of  His  Church  and  your  diocese. 


i86  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

I  have  pondered  your  call  and  considered  it  long  and  anx- 
iously, and  with  a  just  sense,  I  trust,  of  the  high  duty  I  de- 
cline. I  feel  clear  in  my  mind  and  heart  that  a  higher  duty 
to  my  family  fuiist  detennine  my  course. 

Cherishing  the  brotherly  friendship  I  have  formed  for  you, 
and  humbled  before  God  and  His  Church  by  the  honor  you 
have  done  me,  I  beg  you  to  be  assured  of  my  gratitude  and 
my  love. 

With  sincerest  brotherly  love,  I  remain,  dear  brethren, 

Yours  most  truly, 

(Signed)     Ellison  Capers. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

RECTOR  OF  TRINITY  CHURCH,  COLUMBIA,  S.  C. 

In  September,  1887,  Mr.  Capers  was  called  to  Trinity  Church, 
Columbia,  S.  C.  This  historic  old  church  is  perhaps  the  most 
influential  parish  in  the  diocese.  Situated  in  one  of  the  most 
attractive  residential  parts  of  the  city,  it  faces  the  massive  capi- 
tol.  with  its  extensive  and  beautiful  grounds.  Within  a  block 
is  the  University  of  the  State,  and  not  far  distant  are  colleges 
for  young  women.  Trinity  is  associated  with  many  of  South 
Carolina's  most  distinguished  families.  Governors,  senators, 
college  presidents  and  professors,  soldiers  and  statesmen  of 
renown,  have  worshiped  at  this  ancient  shrine.  The  ashes  of 
the  Capers,  of  the  Hamptons,  the  Prestons,  Mannings,  Rich- 
ardsons,  and  those  of  the  poet  Timrod  all  mingle  in  her  sacred 
soil.  Columbia,  as  the  capital  of  the  State,  is  the  Mecca  of 
South  Carolina's  leading  men,  and  has  from  the  early  history 
of  the  State  been  renowned  for  the  intellectual  attainment  and 
social  prominence  of  its  citizens.  The  pulpit  of  Trinity  gives 
its  rector  the  opportunity  of  preaching  to  legislators,  Supreme 
Court  judges,  college  faculties  and  students.  It  is,  from  every 
point  of  view,  a  most  attractive  field  of  work  and  service. 
But  that  which  most  influenced  Mr,  Capers  to  accept  the  call 
was  the  educational  advantages  the  university  offered  his  sons. 
To  educate  his  children  was  an  ambition  with  him,  for  the 
realization  of  which  he  stood  ever  ready  to  sacrifice  himself. 

Dr.  Capers  began  his  ministry  at  Trinity,  Sunday,  December 
19,  and  the  following  press  notice  indicates  the  favorable 
impression  made  upon  his  parishioners  : 

"The  seating  capacity  of  Trinity  Church  was  taxed  yester- 
day morning  by  the  immense  crowd  of  persons  who  went  to 

187 


i88  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

hear  the  opening  sermon  of  the  Rev.  EUison  Capers,  the  newly- 
elected  pastor,  and  to  welcome  him  by  their  presence.  The 
sermon,  a  most  appropriate  one,  was  delivered  with  much 
feeling,  and  produced  a  great  impression  upon  the  congrega- 
tion. 

"The  text  was  taken  from  Romans  14,  verses  30  and  32: 
T  beseech  you,  brethren,  for  our  Tord  Jesus  Christ's  sake, 
and  for  the  love  of  the  Spirit,  that  you  strive  together  with 
me  in  your  prayers  to  God  for  me,  that  I  may  come  unto  you 
with  joy,  by  the  will  of  God,  and  may  be  with  you  refreshed.' 

"These  words  suggested  the  thoughts  which  filled  the  mind 
of  the  minister  who  has  given  us  an  endeared  past  and  as- 
sumed the  untried  responsibilities  of  a  new  pastoral  charge. 

"No  man  was  justified  in  leaving  a  work  endeared  by  a 
thousand  hallowed  associations  except  as  he  could  realize  that 
he  was  doing  God's  will.  Next  the  joyful  service  of  Christ 
in  the  pastoral  relation  was  presented,  the  preacher  dwelling 
earnestly  upon  the  comfort  and  peace  of  doing  the  will  of 
God  joyfully.  This  joy  was  the  result  not  only  of  a  sense 
of  doing  one's  duty,  but  the  joy  come  to  the  minister  of  Christ 
who  could  say  with  the  Apostle :  T  am  sure  that  when  I  come 
unto  you  I  shall  come  in  the  fulness  of  the  blessing  ot  the 
Gospel  of  Christ.'  The  refreshment  which  a  true  ministry  in 
Christ  brought  to  pastor  and  people  and  the  oneness  of  the 
relation  between  them,  as  they  mutually  worked  together  for 
the  edifying  of  the  Body  of  Christ,  were  presented. 

"In  this  connection  Mr.  Capers  deprecated  anything  that 
raised  a  barrier  between  pastor  and  people.  He  alluded  par- 
ticularly to  the  separation  in  thought  which  sometimes  made 
the  Gospel  appear  to  disadvantage  by  reason  of  the  rationalism 
of  our  age,  styling  itself  falsely  a  philosophy  of  truth.  He 
concluded  his  discourse  in  these  words :  'But  I  will  not  dwell 
longer  upon  so  ungrateful  a  theme  as  that  which  draws  your 
attention  to  the  things  which  so  often  separate  us  in  thought 
and  feeling  from  our  hearers.  I  am  reminded  that  I  am 
to-day  beginning  my  ministry  among  a  people  who  for  more 


ELLISON  CAPERS  189 

than  half  a  century  were  accustomed  to  give  their  honored 
pastor  a  loving  confidence,  and  who  have  been  taught  of  him 
to  know  their  God  to  be  unto  them  wisdom,  righteousness, 
sanctification.  I  would  remind  you,  dear  brethren,  of  his 
example  of  devotion  to  Christ  and  His  truth,  and  I  would 
claim  your  love  and  sympathy  by  all  the  lessons  of  his  long 
and  faithful  ministry,  reminding  you  that  I  preach  unto  you 
no  other  Gospel  than  that  which  he  ever  declared.  Recalling 
the  unselfish  zeal  and  devotion  of  your  last  rector,  I  would 
ask  that  you  strive  together  with  me  in  your  prayers,  to  God 
for  me.  that  I,  too,  might  have  a  measure  of  his  untiring 
activity  and  do  my  work  among  you  as  unselfishly  as  he  did. 
And  so,  brethren,  of  Trinity,  may  I  carry  on  the  work  of 
Christ  among  you,  that  when  our  work  is  done  an  entrance 
may  be  ministered  unto  us  into  the  everlasting  kingdom  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  together  with  you  I  may  rejoice 
in  the  great  day  of  our  Lord.'  " 

During  the  first  years  of  his  ministry  in  Columbia,  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Capers  received  the  honorary  degree  of  Doctor  of  Divin- 
ity, and  in  1893,  the  same  degree  from  the  University  of  the 
South,  at  Sewanee. 

In  the  spring  of  1888  Bishop  Wilmer,  of  the  diocese  of 
Alabama,  made  known  his  desire  that  the  Council  which 
was  to  convene  the  following  May,  elect  a  bishop-coadjutor. 
Though  the  Rev.  Dr.  Capers  had  been  officially  connected 
with  the  diocese  of  Alabama  for  just  a  year,  he  had  many 
friends,  and  a  large  acquaintance  throughout  the  State,  espe- 
cially among  the  Confederate  soldiers.  Bishop  Wilmer  was 
devoted  to  him,  while  Trinity's  rector  entertained  a  great 
admiration  and  warm  personal  affection  for  the  distinguished 
prelate.  Under  these  circumstances.  Bishop  Wilmer's  request 
for  a  coadjutor  immediately  brought  Dr.  Capers'  name  promi- 
nently before  the  Church  in  that  diocese. 

A  prominent  churchman  of  Birmingham,  Ala.,  was  very 
much  interested  in  Dr.  Capers'  election,  and  on  March  26 
wrote  to  secure  some  favorable  expression  from  him  in  refer- 


I90  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

ence  to  his  probable  nomination.  Dr.  Capers  sought  to  dis- 
courage any  action  in  his  behalf,  but  his  friend's  enthusiasm 
admitted  of  no  discouragement  in  the  matter.  He  wrote  re- 
peatedly and  gave  the  names  of  clergy  and  laity  who  had 
assured  him  of  their  preference  for  his  candidate,  they  being  a 
sufficient  number  to  insure  his  election. 

Finally  Dr.  Capers  wrote :  "I  am  compelled  to  discourage  in 
every  honorable  way  my  nomination,  and  if  my  friends  persist 
against  my  will  to  bring  my  name  before  the  May  convention 
the  result  will  be  to  my  mortification  and  their  own." 

About  this  time  the  Rev.  R.  W.  Barnwell,  afterward  bishop 
of  the  diocese  of  Alabama  wrote : 

Rectory  of  St.  Paui/.s  Church, 

Selma,  Ala.,  April  25,  1888. 
The  Rev.  Ellison  Capers, 

Dear  Mr.  Capers:  You  have  doubtless  received  so  many 
letters  from  Alabama  lately  that  I  need  hardly  say  what  the 
subject  of  this  one  is.  As  the  rector  of  your  old  parish  in 
Alabama,  it  has  been  agreed  among  your  friends  in  the  diocese 
that  we  should  have  the  honor  of  nominating  you  for  the 
office  of  assistant  bishop.  I  do  not  know  what  would  probably 
be  your  decision  should  your  nomination  result  in  an  election, 
nor  do  I  imagine  that  you  know;  for  one  does  not  feel  one's 
self  in  a  position  to  consider  so  grave  a  question  until  it  is 
presented  outright.  I  write  this  letter,  then,  not  for  the  pur- 
pose of  getting  your  views  on  the  subject,  but  merely  to  assure 
you  that  in  nominating  you  I  will  do  so  with  all  my  heart 
as  with  all  my  mind. 

From  all  I  can  hear  from  both  clergy  and  laity,  I  believe 
that  you  will  be  elected  on  the  first  ballot.  It  would  do  your 
heart  good  could  you  see  the  enthusiasm  of  the  Selma  delega- 
tion. For  myself  I  know  of  no  man — saving  Bishop  Wilmer. 
and  that  because  I  have  tried  him, — I  would  rather  work 
under  than  you,  Mr.  Capers. 


ELLISON  CAPERS  191 

Dr.  Capers  replies: 

Trinity  Rectory, 

Columbia,  S.  C, 
The  Rev.  R.  W.  Barnwell,  May  21,   1888. 

Rector,  St.  Paul's,  Selma,  Ala. 

My  Dear  Brother:  Your  very  kind  letter  was  duly  received. 
The  nature  of  its  contents  was  such  that  I  hesitated,  at  the 
time,  to  send  you  the  answer  which  my  conscience  dictated, 
and  I  beg  you,  my  dear  brother,  to  excuse  my  hesitation  and 
accept  my  warmest  thanks  for  the  brotherly  expressions  of 
your  most  kind  letter. 

After  much  consideration,  and  with  every  feeling  of  respect 
and  gratitude  toward  my  dear  brethren  in  Alabama,  I  am 
constrained,  from  considerations  which  seem  to  me  compel- 
ling, to  request  most  earnestly  that  my  name  should  not  be 
brought  before  the  convention  for  the  office  of  assistant  bishop. 
I  most  solemnly  decline  to  give  my  consent  to  it. 

I  have  most  carefully  considered  the  matter,  and  my  first 
indisposition  to  consent  to  my  nomination,  expressed  to  my 
friend  Captain  Joe  Johnston  weeks  ago,  has  grown  into  a  con- 
viction of  duty,  and  I  beg  my  friends  to  respect  it.  If  you 
persist  in  your  purpose  the  responsibility  is  wholly  yours,  and 
I  cannot  feel  myself  lx)und  by  the  result. 

With  all  my  heart  I  pray  God  to  overrule  your  deliberations, 
for  the  best  interest  of  the  diocese  and  the  comfort  of  your 
dear  old  Bishop.  With  every  sentiment  of  respect  and  broth- 
erly love,   I  am,  my  dear  brother. 

Most  truly  yours, 

Ellison  Capers. 

Through  five  years  of  devoted  work  Rev.  Dr.  Capers  con- 
tinued the  beloved  rector  of  Trinity.  More  than  twenty  years 
having  elapsed  since  the  close  of  the  War,  the  South  had  suffi- 
ciently recovered  to  begin  the  building  and  unveiling  of  monu- 
ments to  the  memory  of  those  heroes  who  had  given  their  lives 


192  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

for  the  Cause  that  was  lost.     Dr.  Capers'  war  record ;  his  de- 
voted interest  in  every  worthy  effort  to  do  homage  to  and  per- 
petuate the  memory  of  the  Confederate  soldier;  his  knowledge 
of  the  great  battles  and  leaders  of  the  Confederacy,  as  well  as 
his  oratorical  powers,  all  combined  to  bring  him  into  constant 
demand  as  orator  upon  such  occasions.    He  was  a  patriot  and 
took  a  lively  interest  in  everything  that  exalted  and  perpetuated 
the  history  of  his  country.     He  was  on  the  executive  com- 
mittee of  the  King's  Mountain  Centennial,  and  the  same  year, 
1880,  he  was  grand  chaplain  at  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone 
of  the  Cowpens  Monument.  He  was  also  on  the  executive  com- 
mittee of  the  first  South  Carolina  "States  Survivors'  Associa- 
tion," and  about  the  time  of  his  removal  to  Columbia  he  was 
Chaplain-General  of  the  Confederate  Veterans  Association.  He 
delivered  the  oration  at  the  unveiling  of  the  Confederate  monu- 
ments at  Greenville,  1890,  Georgetown,  1891,  Marion,  1892, 
Chickamauga,  1901 ;  the  mural  tablet  in  St.  Michael's  Church, 
1 90 1.     When  the  State  Association   unveiled   the   beautiful 
monument  in  its  capital,  to  the  Carolina  soldiers,  General  Wade 
Hampton    was   the  orator,    and   Bishop    Capers   offered   the 
prayer. 

While  Dr.  Capers  was  rector  of  Trinity  Church,  General 
Joseph  E.  Johnston  died.  General  Capers  had  served  under 
him  in  the  war,  and  had  the  greatest  admiration  for  him  as 
soldier  and  man.  He  regarded  Joseph  E.  Johnston  next  to 
Lee  as  the  greatest  general  produced  by  the  Civil  War.  In 
preparing  and  presenting  resolutions  passed  upon  the  death 
of  General  Johnston,  General  Capers  paid  his  army  com- 
mander this  tribute  of  admiration  and  affection. 

He  said:  'T  shared  in  the  general  feeling  of  reverence 
for  General  Johnston,  and  to  that  is  added  in  my  case  a 
feeling  of  close  personal  affection.  It  is  a  source  of  pride 
that  the  Southern  soldier  loved  his  generals,  and  I  can  say 
truthfully  that  every  soldier  who  followed  Johnston  loved 
him  devotedly,  and  I  do  not  believe  that  the  whole  world 
could  show  any  such  record  of  unbounded  enthusiasm  and 


ELLISON  CAPERS  193 

unbounded  confidence  as  that  shown  by  the  soldiers  of  John- 
ston's army  in  that  memorable  Dalton  campaign.  That  army 
was  retiring  every  week,  but  in  retiring  felt  that  their  com- 
mander was  doing  that  which  was  best,  and  was  merely  retir- 
ing to  choose  a  better  fighting  position." 

Bishop  Capers  was  fond  of  relating  this  anecdote,  to  illus- 
trate General  Lee's  opinion  of  General  Johnston.  It  was, 
said  he,  the  custom  with  President  Davis  to  have  his  cabinet 
dine  with  him  once  a  week.  On  such  an  occasion  in  1864 
Sidney  Lee,  a  brother  of  General  Lee,  was  a  guest.  Dur- 
ing the  progress  of  the  dinner  Mr.  Lee  related  an  experience 
he  had  once  when  a  boy,  duck  hunting.  He  and  a  friend  were 
floating  down  the  river  in  quest  of  their  game,  and  time  and 
time  again  they  sighted  the  ducks  at  a  distance.  The  friend 
would,  with  great  pains  and  effort,  row  cautiously  toward  them, 
and  then  aim  and  "sight"  and  paddle  a  little  nearer,  and  then 
change  his  course  and  attempt  to  move  upon  the  ducks  from 
another  direction.  Upon  each  such  occasion  the  ducks  were 
flushed  and  never  a  shot  was  fired.     Finally  losing  patience, 

Mr.  Lee  remonstrated  and  asked  why  in  the  he  didn't 

shoot.  The  reply  was,  "Well.  I  won't  shoot  until  I  get  the 
ducks  just  where  I  want  them."  Lie  said  that  that  hunting 
often  reminded  him  of  General  Joseph  E.  Johnston's  campaign, 
and  then  continued  his  strictures  on  the  General.  General  Lee 
was  manifestly  annoyed  and  irritated  that  his  brother  should 
indulge  in  these  serious  reflections  upon  General  Johnston,  and 
when  he  excused  himself,  in  order  to  have  an  interview  with 
the  President,  he  said  in  a  most  impressive  manner:  "Gentle- 
men, if  Joseph  E.  Johnston  is  not  a  general,  the  Confederacy 
has  none." 

Dr.  Capers  was  deeply  interested  in  the  movement  toward 
marking  the  graves  of  South  Carolina's  soldiers.  He  there- 
fore readily  responded  to  the  appeal  made  to  him,  by  inter- 
ested friends  in  Franklin,  to  have  the  State  Legislature  appro- 
priate an  amount  of  money  sulhcient  to  have  markers  put  at 
the  heads  of  the  soldiers'  graves.     In  1892  at  the  meeting  of 


194  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

the  Legislature  he  made  known  his  request,  and  the  appropria- 
tion was  promptly  voted.  The  receipt  of  the  amount  for- 
warded by  Dr.  Capers  was  acknowledged  in  the  subjoined 
letter : 

Franklin,  Tenn., 

March  8,  1892. 
Rev.  Ellison  Capers_,  D.  D.  : 

My  Dear  Sir:  Your  letter  and  check  for  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  dollars,  payable  to  my  order,  has  been  received, 
and  cashed  by  the  National  Bank  of  Franklin,  subject  to  the 
order  of  cemetery  committee  of  John  L.  McEwen  Bivouac. 
The  committee  read  your  letter,  and  the  joint  resolutions  of 
the  Legislature  of  your  State,  as  to  how  the  money  should  be 
expended.  Captain  T.  F.  Perkins,  who  was  a  very  gallant 
soldier,  and  a  member  of  the  cemetery  committee,  has  prom- 
ised me  that  he  will  see  that  the  South  Carolina  dead  shall 
have  such  headstones  as  the  Legislature  directs.  Allow  me, 
in  behalf  of  the  Bivouac,  to  return  to  you  their  sincere  thanks 
for  the  successful  effort  you  made  to  secure  the  money.  Your 
State  is  the  only  one  so  far  which  has  responded  to  our  appeal. 
I  felt,  when  I  addressed  you  in  behalf  of  South  Carolina,  that 
the  amount  would  be  forthcoming,  for  her  people  have  always 
proved  themselves  as  generous  in  peace  as  they  were  gallant 
in  war.     With  great  esteem, 

I  remain,   yours  truly, 

(Signed)     B.  F.  Roberts. 


CHAPTER  XVni 


BISHOP  ELLISON  CAPERS 


At  the  one  hundred  and  third  council  of  the  diocese,  convened 
in  St.  PhiHp's  Church,  Charleston,  May  lo,  1893,  Ellison 
Capers  was  elected  Assistant  Bishop  of  South  Carolina.  On 
the  first  ballot  he  received  a  majority  of  the  clerical,  and  an 
overwhelming  majority  of  the  lay  vote,  and  on  motion  the 
election  was  made  unanimous. 

The  Chair  appointed  the  Rev.  Dr.  Porter,  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Johnston,  and  Mr.  W.  H.  Parker  a  committee  to  wait  upon 
Dr.  Capers  and  receive  his  answer. 

The  committee  conducted  Dr.  Capers  to  the  church,  where 
he  was  most  affectionately  received  by  Dr.  Pinckney  and  pre- 
sented to  the  convention  to  make  his  answer  to  the  call  made 
upon  him. 

Dr.  Capers  spoke  with  much  feeling,  assuring  his  brethren 
that,  if  he  believed  that  the  future  of  the  diocese  depended 
solely  upon  the  energies  or  the  abilities  of  its  bishop,  he  could 
not  presume  to  respond  affirmatively  to  the  call  of  the  conven- 
tion, but  when  he  reflected  that  the  promise  of  God  was  with 
His  Church,  that  His  spirit  and  His  grace  gave  strength  to 
the  heart  and  will  of  His  people,  and  that  the  Divine  Master 
was  with  us  to  be  our  guide  and  our  life, — and  when  he  con- 
sidered the  spirit  in  which  the  convention  met  the  resolution 
offered  by  Dr.  Wilson, — he  could  not  find  it  in  his  heart  to 
shrink  from  the  work  or  the  responsibilities  to  which  he  had 
just  been  called.  He  assured  the  clergy  and  the  laity  of  his 
confidence  and  love,  and  asked  them  one  and  all  to  give  him 
their  support  and  love  in  return,  assuring  his  brethren  that  if 

195 


196  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

the  Church  approved  their  action,  and  in  due  time  he  was 
consecrated  Assistant  Bishop  of  this  beloved  diocese,  he  would 
give  it  his  whole  heart,  his  most  earnest  labors,  and  would 
confidently  look  for  the  blessing  of  God  upon  His  church. 

The  press  of  the  State  voiced  the  sentiment  of  the  people 
generally,  in  approving  the  choice  of  the  diocesan  convention, 
in  the  following  editorials : 

The  election  of  the  Rev.  Ellison  Capers,  D.  D.,  as  Assistant 
Bishop  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  for  the  diocese 
of  South  Carolina  was  a  voluntary  expression  of  the  love  and 
confidence  of  his  clerical  and  lay  brethren,  a  beautiful  tribute 
to  a  beautiful  character.  Dr.  Capers  does  not,  to  the  general 
public  in  this  State,  represent  any  special  Church  or  denomi- 
nation. He  represents  religion  of  a  high,  broad,  manly  kind — 
high  enough  to  look  above  and  beyond  denominational  lines, 
broad  enough  to  include  in  its  love  and  reverence  all  honest 
servants  of  God  and  good  men,  manly  enough  to  say  and 
maintain  its  principles  anywhere  and  everywhere.  All  the 
people  of  South  Carolina  claim  a  share  in  the  light  of  his 
career  as  a  soldier,  priest,  and  citizen ;  and  the  fact  that  he 
was  selected  above  all  others  and  without  hesitation  as  the 
recipient  of  the  highest  honor  his  Church  could  bestow,  will 
cause  general  and  very  sincere  gratification  in  every  part  of 
the  State  and  among  all  classes. 

Here,  in  Greenville,  the  news  of  the  action  of  the  convention 
was  received  with  special  pleasure.  Dr.  Capers  served  here 
as  rector  of  Christ's  Church  for  many  years.  The  members  of 
his  own  congregation  were  bound  to  him  by  all  the  many 
tender  ties  which  develop  between  pastor  and  people,  and 
Greenville  had  always  felt  proud  of  having  him  as  a  citizen. 

Over  his  promotion,  therefore,  Greenville  rejoices  unani- 
mously and  heartily. 

In  behalf  of  the  people  of  the  State  generally  and  those 
of  Greenville  especially,  we  warmly  congratulate  Dr.  Capers 
on  a  high  honor  worthily  won,  and  the  Church  on  having 


ELLISON  CAPERS  197 

chosen  an  able,  pure,  and  strong  man,  a  gallant  and  big-hearted 
gentleman,  a  bishop  whose  tender  love  and  care  and  powerful 
influence  will  be  felt  for  good  in  every  corner  of  the  diocese. — 
Greenville  Daily  Nezvs. 

"Bishop  Capers."  This  will  sound  familiar  to  the  older 
South  Carolinians,  albeit  that  the  title  and  name  do  not  belong 
to  the  same  religious  communion  that  was  once  honored  in 
this  way.  This  time  the  honorary  title  of  bishop  is  to  be  con- 
ferred by  Episcopalians  upon  a  worthy  son  of  the  illustrious 
man  who  gave  such  luster  to  the  name  of  Methodism  in  a 
former  generation,  and  in  the  homes  of  all  the  people,  with- 
out reference  to  the  lines  of  demarkation  between  the  sects, 
there  will  arise  a  warm  approval  of  the  distinction  awarded  to 
Ellison  Capers,  the  gallant  ex-soldier  and  genial,  loving  Chris- 
tian who  has  devoted  friends  in  every  section  of  the  State.— 
Greenville  Mountaineer  (Baptist). 

Bishop  Capers  is  perhaps  the  most  widely  known  and  the 
most  universally  beloved  man  in  South  Carolina.  We  do  not 
mean  to  say  that  his  being  bishop  over  the  Episcopal  Church 
in  South  Carolina  makes  him  thus,  although  as  high  and 
broad  a  Christian  as  Bishop  Capers  is  more  than  apt  to  be 
generally  appreciated  and  honored.  It  is  the  Bishop's  noble 
record  in  the  Confederate  War,  joined  to  his  almost  perfect 
personal  character,  that  causes  him  to  be  thus  known  and  be- 
loved on  all  sides.  When  the  Bishop  comes  here,  or  goes 
there,  it  is  not  Episcopal  or  Methodist,  or  Baptist  or  Presby- 
terian, but  it  is  "Bishop  Capers  is  here,"  or  "General  Capers  is 
here,"  or  "Brave  old  Ellison  Capers  is  here."  And  everybody 
wants  to  see  him  and  hear  hini  and  shake  his  hand — old  people 
because  they  know  and  love  him,  and  young  people  because 
they  honor  and  love  the  traditions ;  because  they  would  greet 
a  hero  of  fateful  history.  The  good  bishop,  with  his  heaiJ 
and  mind  as  strong  as  his  heart  is  tender  and  true,  was  with 
his  flocks  of  Trenton  and  Edgefield  on  Sunday  last.     Large 


198  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

crowds  heard  him  in  the  forenoon  and  afternoon,  and  in  the 
evening,  at  the  earnest  request  of  President  Bailey,  he  "made 
a  Httle  talk,"  as  he  expressed  it,  to  the  120  boarding  pupils 
of  the  South  Carolina  Co-Educational  Institute  in  their  chapel. 
But  it  was  in  reality  a  large  talk,  and  a  high  and  broad  one, 
and  delighted  the  young  people  to  whom  it  was  so  lovingly 
addressed.  Bishop  Capers,  however,  does  more  than  delight 
people.  He  helps  them,  strengthens  them,  comforts  them. 
Would  that  we  might  see  and  hear  him  oftener  in  Edgefield. — 
Edgefield  Chromcle. 

There  are  no  good  people  in  South  Carolina,  whatever  their 
denominational  predilections,  who  will  not  rejoice  at  the  action 
of  the  Diocesan  Convention  yesterday  in  electing  the  Rev. 
Ellison  Capers  Assistant  Bishop  of  the  diocese.  He  is  in  every 
way  worthy  of  the  high  distinction  conferred  upon  him,  and 
will  bring  to  the  discharge  of  the  duties  of  his  holy  office  the 
zeal  of  thorough  consecration  and  the  experience  of  a  most 
successful  ministry. 

As  his  biographer,  Colonel  J.  P.  Thomas,  says  in  the  excel- 
lent sketch  of  his  life  published  in  the  history  of  the  South 
Carolina  Military  Academy,  and  reproduced  in  the  News  and 
Courier  to-day,  "His  mind  is  strong  enough,  his  soul  is  sweet 
enough,  and  his  shoulders  broad  enough  for  heavy  churchly 
burdens." 

The  Church  is  fortunate  in  its  choice;  the  State  will  be 
benefited  by  the  election  of  such  a  man,  so  earnest  in  his  piety, 
so  broad  in  his  philanthropy,  so  patriotic  in  his  purposes,  so 
gentle  and  tender  and  true  in  all  his  life  and  character.  His 
election  will  tend,  as  we  believe  and  hope,  to  the  restoration 
of  good-fellowship  throughout  the  diocese,  and  the  true  mis- 
sionary spirit  which  filled  his  soul  will  lead  to  the  development 
of  a  larger  Christian  life  and  greater  Christian  activity  in  all 
the  parishes  over  which  he  will  exercise  pastoral  control. — The 
News  and  Courier. 


ELLISON  CAPERS  199 

PRESENTATION  OF  THE  EPISCOPAL  RING 

Shortly  after  the  election  of  the  Rev.  Ellison  Capers  to  be 
Bishop  Coadjutor  of  South  Carolina  the  vestry  of  St.  Paul's, 
Selma,  Ala.,  decided  to  present  him  with  an  episcopal  ring 
on  behalf  of  the  congregation  of  which  he  was  at  one  time  the 
honored  and  beloved  rector. 

The  ring  is  of  massive  gold  set  with  an  oriental  amethyst, 
oval  shaped.  On  the  stone  is  the  seal  of  South  Carolina,  a 
palmetto  tree.  Under  the  palmetto  is  a  radiated  cross,  with 
the  Latin  motto.  "Faith,  Love,  Hope,"  on  a  scroll.  Under- 
neath all  are  the  Bishop's  initials,  "E.  C."  On  the  shank  of 
the  ring  on  one  side  is  a  cross  and  a  crown;  on  the  other  is 
Christ's  monogram. 

The  following  is  the  correspondence  relating  to  the  presen- 
tation and  acceptance  of  the  ring:* 

The  Rt.  Rev.  Ellison  Capers,  D.  D., 

Assistant  Bishop  of  South  Carolina: 
Rt.  Rev.  and  Dear  Sir:  The  undersigned,  who  were  ap- 
pointed to  provide  the  episcopal  ring  presented  to  you  by  the 
vestry  of  St.  Paul's  on  behalf  of  the  congregation,  take 
pleasure  in  presenting  the  same  to  you.  We  trust  that  the 
design  and  mottoes  will  be  approved  by  you.  We  deemed 
it  not  inappropriate  to  emblazon  the  shield  with  the  palmetto, 
the  historic  tree  associated  with  your  State,  and  with  your  own 
distinguished  services  in  her  defense.  We  present  this  ring 
as  a  token  of  the  love  and  esteem  in  which  you  are  held  by 
your  former  parishioners,  and  trust  it  will  always  remind  you 
of  their  devotion  and  friendship. 

N.  H.  R.  Dawson, 
Wm.  Berg, 
Geo.   a.  Wilkins, 
Committee  of  St.  Paul's  Vestry,  Selma,  Ala. 

*The  episcopal  robes  were  presented  by  the  ladies  of  Trinity  Church. 


2O0  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

BISHOP  capers'  acknowledgment 

Columbia,  S.  C,  Oct.  20,  1893. 
Col.  N.  H.  R.  Dawson,  Wm.  Berg,  and  Geo.  A.  Wilkins, 
Com.  Vestry  St.  Paul's,  Sclina,  Ala.: 

My  Dear  Brethren:  I  am  duly  in  receipt  of  your  letter  of 
the  I2th  inst.,  and  of  the  episcopal  ring  presented  by  you  in 
the  name  of  the  congregation  at  Selma.  to  which,  in  God's 
good  providence.  I  had  the  honor  to  minister  in  the  name  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  The  first  use  of  the  ring  shall  fix 
my  seal  to  the  "Letter  of  Orders"  of  my  brother,  the  Rt.  Rev. 
the  Assistant  Bishop  of  North  Carolina,  at  his  recent  conse- 
cration. 

Hereafter,  my  dear  brethren,  whenever  it  becomes  my  duty 
to  attest  my  official  signature  by  affixing  my  seal,  I  have 
before  me  the  sign  of  the  covenant  of  your  "love  and  esteem," 
as  well  as  the  emblem  of  the  office  you  have  honored  by  your 
consideration. 

May  the  emblem  of  the  palmetto  rising  from  the  cross  be  to 
me,  and  to  my  flock,  a  sure  token  that  the  people  of  our  State 
shall  be  a  Christian  people,  and  that  Christ  and  His  Church 
shall  give  to  the  State  its  highest  and  noblest  distinction. 

With  a  heart  full  of  gratitude  to  my  brethren  of  St.  Paul's. 
Selma.  and  praying  upon  you  all  the  richest  gifts  of  grace 
and  peace  from  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  I  am,  with  a  brother's 
love,  Faithfully  yours, 

Ellison  Capers, 
Assistant  Bishop  of  S.  C. 

THE  consecration   OF  ASSISTANT  BISHOP  CAPERS* 

"Yesterday  was.  perhaps,  the  most  memorable  day  in  eccle- 
siastical circles  that  ever  dawned  in  South  Carolina.  Certainly 
never  before  in  the  history  of  the  State  has  been  witnessed  a 

^Columbia  State,  July  31,  1893. 


ELLISON  CAPERS  201 

ceremony  of  the  nature  of  that  by  which  Dr.  Ellison  Capers, 
of  Columbia,  was  raised  to  the  high  and  honored  office  of 
bishop  in  the  Episcopal  Church  for  the  diocese  of  South  Caro- 
lina. It  was  the  most  notable  event  and  one  that  those  who 
witnessed  it  will  never  forget. 

"That  beloved  and  gallant  soldier  of  his  country  and  Christ, 
having  already  risen  to  the  highest  position  a  noble  soldier 
could  rise  in  the  service  of  man,  yesterday  had  conferred  upon 
him  the  highest  honors  that  a  man  can  attain  upon  earth  in 
the  service  of  the  Lord.  Surely  those  honors  have  been  well 
deserved,  and  they  could  not  have  been  conferred  upon  a 
nobler  or  more  lovable  man  than  Ellison  Capers.  That  he  is 
considered  such  a  man  by  all  his  fellows  of  all  denominations, 
callings,  and  colors  was  amply  attested  by  the  congregation 
of  people  of  every  class  that  filled  all  available  space  in  old 
Trinity  yesterday  morning,  and  sat  through  the  several  hours 
of  service  without  the  slightest  indication  of  impatience.  In 
that  vast  audience  there  were  people  from  every  quarter  of 
the  State — attorneys  who  had  deserted  their  offices ;  business 
men  who  had  cast  aside  their  business  for  the  time;  artisans 
who  were  losing  a  day's  work.  There  were  Methodists,  there 
were  Lutherans,  there  were  Baptists,  there  were  Presby- 
terians, there  were  Catholics  and  Israelites  present.  There 
was  also  a  good  sprinkling  of  colored  people. 

"The  exercises  were  scheduled  to  begin  at  1 1  .-30  o'clock,  but 
fully  an  hour  before  that  time  there  was  scarcely  a  vacant  seat 
left  in  the  buildmg.  And  these  people,  the  services  once  begun, 
did  not  move  from  their  places  till  everything  was  over^ 
very  nearly  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 

"The  exercises  were  at  once  the  most  impressive  and  inter- 
esting that  many  in  the  vast  congregation  had  ever  witnessed. 
It  was  peculiarly  impressive — the  scene  when  the  many  clergy, 
in  their  episcopal  vestments,  moved  about  within  the  chancel. 
It  was  much  more  impressive  when  the  bishop-elect,  in  reply- 
ing to  the  presiding  bishop's  examination  questions,  did  so  in 
a  faltering  voice. 


202  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

"The  exercises,  from  beginning  to  end,  were  the  most  inter- 
esting ever  witnessed  in  Trinity.  In  addition  to  the  mag- 
nificent consecration  sermon,*— pronounced  by  many  learned 
men  to  be  the  finest  doctrinal  exposition  they  had  ever  heard, — 
and  the  beautiful  consecration  service  proper,  the  music  was 
superb.  The  orchestral  instruments,  the  deep-toned  organ, 
and  the  voices  of  the  choral  singers  all  blended  most  har- 
moniously." 

*Preached   by   Bishop   Jackson   of   Alabama. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

LABORS  OF  THE  EPISCOPATE 

The  mere  record  of  appointments  and  official  acts  in  a  Bishop's 
journal  cannot  possibly  give  an  adequate  appreciation  of  the 
arduous  duties,  the  tremendous  responsibility,  and  the  personal 
sacrifice  devolving  upon  him;  neither  does  it  furnish  a  true 
conception  of  the  brighter  and  more  cheerful  aspect  of  his 
work.  But  the  statement  of  our  Lord:  "He  that  is  greatest 
among  you,  let  him  be  as  the  younger ;  and  he  that  is  chief,  as 
he  that  doth  serve,"  is  as  true  to-day  as  when  he  endeavored 
to  impress  it  upon  his  disciples.  Measured  by  this  standard, 
many  of  our  bishops  are  splendidly  proving  themselves  "great." 
An  anecdote  comes  to  our  mind  which  illustrates  the  spirit  in 
which  Bishop  Capers  fulfilled  his  engagements,  as  well  as  his 
restiveness  under  attempted  restraint  from  the  discharge  of 
his  duty. 

It  was  a  very  rainy  summer  and  Bishop  Capers,  with 
several  of  the  members  of  his  family,  was  enjoying  the  holi- 
days at  their  little  mountain  home,  "Camp  Cottage."  He  had 
an  appointment  at  Saluda.  N.  C,  some  thirty  miles  distant. 
The  rains  had  descended  steadily  during  the  better  part  of 
two  weeks,  and  the  swollen  mountain  streams  had  become 
rushing  torrents.  The  flooded  condition  of  the  country  sug- 
gested the  impracticability  of  Bishop  Capers  attempting  to 
keep  his  appointment.  At  first  he  received  such  suggestions 
with  a  pleasant  smile,  and  replied :  "Oh,  we  will  find  a  way 
to  make  the  trip."  The  importunity  of  his  family  increased 
with  the  swelling  waters.  When  no  conveyance  could  be 
found  in  which  to  "make  the  trip,"  we  thought  we  had  him 

203 


204  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

"trapped."  However,  Saturday  morning  his  valises  were 
packed  and  he  was  ready  to  start.  An  ominous  cloud  was  on 
his  brow  and  the  glint  of  command  shone  in  his  eye.  Control- 
ling his  evident  irritation,  he  said  resolutely:  "We  won't  argue 
any  more  about  the  advisability  of  this  trip.  Son," — to  one 
of  the  boys — "drive  me  as  far  as  we  can  go  in  the  buggy; 
I'll  get  across  the  stream,  and  then  if  I  cannot  hire  a  con- 
veyance, I'll  walk."  The  sequel  to  the  story  is  that,  with  valise 
in  one  hand  and  umbrella  in  the  other,  Bishop  Capers  walked 
for  more  than  twenty  miles.  A  few  miles  out  from  Saluda 
he  sought  the  railroad,  and  after  a  desperate  experience  in 
the  mud  and  slush  of  a  railroad  cut,  made  worse  by  anxiety 
about  probable  trains,  he  reached  his  destination  about  dark, 
to  the  great  surprise  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  McCullough  and  his  good 
family,  with  whom  he  was  to  stay.  Then  came  the  humorous 
side.  Without  a  dry  thread  on,  covered  with  mud,  and  with 
no  suit,  the  Bishop  had  to  go  to  bed  until  his  clothes  could 
dry.  As  he  was  completely  exhausted,  the  bed  was  most 
grateful  for  an  hour  or  so.  However,  the  clothes  dried  slowly, 
and  unaccustomed  to  retiring  so  early,  the  Bishop  proposed  to 
get  up.  But  whose  clothes  would  he  wear?  Mr.  McCullough 
was  a  small  man,  and  his  son  Charlie  was  very  tall  and  very 
thin.  They  managed  to  dress  him  after  a  fashion,  and  the 
remainder  of  the  evening  w^as  spent  in  pleasant  conversation. 
The  next  day  it  had  cleared,  so  the  Bishop  kept  his  appoint- 
ment and  confirmed  a  class. 

In  relating  this  experience,  that  which  seemed  uppermost 
in  his  mind  was  the  affection  and  cordiality  of  his  reception 
by  the  McCulloughs.  "Next  morning  my  shoes  were  brought 
to  me  beautifully  polished,  and  my  suit  cleaned  and  pressed. 
Upon  inquiry  I  found  that  Charlie  had  fixed  my  shoes  for  me, 
and  those  lovely  girls  had  actually  cleaned  and  pressed  my 
clothes.     I  felt  greatly  honored  and  also  humbled." 

The  meeting  of  the  General  Conventions  of  the  Church  fur- 
nished the  Bishops  occasions  for  social  intercourse  and  fellow- 
ship, as  well  as  opportunities  for  work.     During  the  General 


ELLISON  CAPERS  205 

Convention  which  met  in  San  Francisco  in  1901,  Bishop 
Capers  was  a  guest  of  Bishop  Potter,  who  had  accepted  the 
kind  invitation  of  Hon.  Charles  Crocker  of  that  city,  to  use 
his  house  for  the  entertainment  of  his  friends.  Bishop  Potter, 
Mr.  J.  P.  Morgan,  and  other  churchmen  often  entertained 
their  guests  thus  during  the  three  weeks  of  the  General  Con- 
vention. 

This  was  a  delightful  experience  for  Bishop  Capers,  and 
he  enjoyed  Bishop  Potter's  household  of  guests  and  bountiful 
hospitality,  and  it  afforded  him  the  opportunity  of  forming 
many  valued  friendships. 

Bishop  Potter's  daughter,  Mrs.  Dandridge,  was  hostess  for 
her  father  upon  this  occasion.  During  the  following  spring  Mrs. 
Dandridge  was  in  Columbia,  S.  C,  and  called  to  tender  her 
respects  to  Bishop  Capers,  whom  she  found  absent.  She  then 
took  occasion  to  pay  the  following  tribute  to  him.  Addressing 
herself  to  those  present,  and  referring  to  the  house-party  in 
San  Francisco,  she  said:  "Bishop  Capers  was  most  delight- 
ful ;  he  is  a  glorious  man !  Everybody  fell  in  love  with  him. 
Why,  even  my  father,  who  is  so  accustomed  to  being  the  lion 
of  the  occasion,  just  had  to  take  a  back  seat,  for  he  said  he 
soon  saw  the  only  thing  to  do  was  to  join  in  the  lionizing  of 
Bishop  Capers.  He  made  the  life  and  fun  for  the  house,  and 
yet  you  could  confide  all  your  troubles  to  him,  and  tell  him 
every  secret,  and  all  the  while  there  was  a  beautiful  dignity 
that  was  most  attractive." 

In  relation  to  the  Bishop's  social  engagements  during  the 
meeting  of  this  General  Convention  (1901),  we  subjoin  this 
letter  to  his  son : 

1 1 50  California  St., 

Saturday  A.  M., 
Oct.  12,  1901. 
My  Dear  Son  : 

Your  letter  was  on  my  desk  when  I  went  to  my  seat  in  the 
House  of  Bishops  yesterday.  I  am  writing  now  in  my  chamber 
before  I  go  down,  for  I  have  so  little  time  after  we  begin 


2o6  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

work.    What  with  committees  between  sessions,  and  incessant 
social  demands,  I  am  on  the  move  all  the  time. 

Well,  Frank,  Frisco  is  the  most  interesting  of  all  our  great 
cities  I  have  yet  seen,  and  the  climate  is  just  delightful.  Yes- 
terday, for  the  first  time,  I  felt  it  warm,  and  the  sea  breeze 
did  not  come  and  go  at  its  usual  hour,  but  this  morning  feels 
like  "Camp  Cottage"  weather  in  October.  I  never  felt  better 
and  all  my  friends  are  saying  how  well  I  look. 

Last  night  (8  p.  m.  to  past  midnight)  I  went  to  the  most 
unique  dinner  I  ever  attended.  It  was  given  by  our 
host  in  honor  of  Mr.  Morgan.  Think  of  a  table  over  one 
hundred  feet  long  and  eighteen  feet  wide!  Of  course  there 
have  been  tables  seating  hundreds,  and  maybe  one  fourth  of 
a  mile  (all  put  together)  long;  indeed,  I  have  often  sat  down 
to  a  dining,  on  marked  occasions,  when  there  were  more  guests ; 
but  I  have  never  sat  down  with  seventy-five  distinguished 
men  at  one  table,  over  one  hundred  feet  long  and 
eighteen  feet  wide !  The  decorations,  with  flowers,  fruits, 
vines,  and  greens,  were  simply  beyond  my  power  of  descrip- 
tion. Hung  up  in  the  grand  reception  room,  where  we  were 
received,  was  the  diagram,  elegantly  mounted,  which  I  give 
you  on  a  separate  page.  Of  course,  writing  to  you,  I  must 
write  about  myself  only  because  I  know  you  and  Em  (and  I 
write  for  you  only)  will  appreciate  so  much  egotism.  Mr. 
Crocker,  who  is  about  the  late  Mr.  Wm.  Beattie's  size,  and 
reminds  me  of  him,  read  his  speech  easily  and  pleasantly, 
and  presided  with  ease.  The  speakers  were  called  in  the  fol- 
lowing order:  Mr.  Morgan  (very  brief  two-minute  speech) 
in  response  to  Mr.  Crocker;  Bishop  Potter;  then  the  President 
of  the  University  of  California;  Bishop  Dudley;  followed  by 
the  President  of  Stanford;  Mr.  Stetson,  of  New  York  (Mor- 
gan's lawyer  and  bright  as  a  new  dollar,  and  lovely  in  face  and 
spirit)  ;  General  Barnes,  a  great  lawyer  here;  Mr.  Scott,  the 
builder  of  the  Charleston  and  Oregon;  myself,  and  last,  the 
Bishop  of  Massachusetts. 

Old  Scott  made  just  such  a  speech  as  you  would  expect 


ELLISON  CAPERS  207 

from  a  strong,  practical,  large-minded  shipbuilder,  with 
touches  of  real  wit.  Stetson  was  fine.  Potter, — who  felt 
that  he  was  out  of  place  there,  but  only  went  to  please  Mr. 
Crocker, — did  not  come  up  to  his  standard.  General  Barnes, 
a  great-looking  man,  with  a  head  like  Webster,  spoke — to  my 
mind — with  great  eloquence  and  with  exquisite  taste  and  dig- 
nity. Dudley— the  President  of  our  House  of  Bishops  and  a 
king  at  a  banquet ! — was  too  much  reconstructed,  said  he  was 
on  the  wrong  side  (jokingly,  but  apologetically).  He  disap- 
pointed me.  The  Stanford  University  president  was  natural, 
simple,  witty,  and  first-rate,  and  said  California  was  scenery, 
climate,  and  hospitality.  The  University  of  California  president 
was  scholarly,  stiff,  classic,  and  very  proper,  but  said  some  fine 
things.  Lawrence  (Massachusetts)  was  graceful  and  very  en- 
joyable, but  a  little  two  nervous.  As  for  myself,  I  spoke  off- 
hand, as  I  felt,  and  rapped  Dudley  for  saying  he  was  on  the 
wrong  side,  greatly  to  the  pleasure  of  the  great  company  of 
high  men,  for  they  gave  such  applause  as  I  have  never  had  in 
public  before,  except  at  the  late  Chickamauga  monument  un- 
veiling.    I  said  somewhat  like  this : 

"My  honored  brother  and  friend,  the  Bishop  of  Kentucky, 
says,  gentlemen,  he  was  on  the  wrong  side!  Why" — affecting 
some  bewilderment — ^"how  was  this,  Dudley?  We  were  on 
the  same  side.  [Applause.]  And,  gentlemen,"  said  I,  "how 
I  do  wish  you  could  all  know  and  feel  how  truly,  how  de- 
voutly, how  self-sacrificingly  we  believed  in  South  Carolina 
we  were  on  the  right  side.  But  how,  then,  came  we  Confed- 
erates to  come,  as  my  honored  brother  of  Kentucky  and  I  have 
come,  to  be  now  on  the  'wrong  side'?  The  genial  President 
of  Stanford  has  told  us  how  science,  energy,  and  work  have 
turned  the  world  wrong  side  out;  and  'reversed  things'  and 
'moved  things'  and  'changed  things'  until  we  have  a  'new 
world'  and  'new  thought'  and  a  'new  life';  and  all,  he  said,  by 
patient,  continuous  energy  and  work  and  pluck  and  persever- 
ance !  Precisely  so,  gentlemen.  That  is  the  way  you  brought 
Dudley  and  me  over  to  the  'wrong  side.'  "     I  wish  you  could 


2o8  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

have  seen  and  heard  what  followed.  It  seems  too  egotistical 
to  write  it,  but  it  was  some  little  time  before  I  could  go  on, 
and  then  I  said :  "But,  gentlemen,  honor  bright  now !  Didn't 
you  all  have  a  mighty  close  call?"  "Yes!  Yes!"  they  said, 
and  repeated  their  applause.  Then  I  went  on  to  acknowledge 
the  hospitality,  to  compare  myself  to  Innocence  abroad,  to 
compliment  the  ladies  of  San  Francisco, — who,  by  the  by,  are 
fine, — and  to  pay  an  honest  tribute  to  Mr.  Morgan's  unosten- 
tatious generosity,  and  his  simple  and  noble  character,  as  well 
as  his  wonderful  ability. 

Riding  home  with  Bishop  Potter  he  said :  "Capers,  old  fel- 
low, your  speech  was  charming.  It  was  just  like  you,  my  boy, 
and,  better  than  all,  it  will  do  good."  Those  were  his  very 
words.  He  has  a  way  of  calling  his  friends  "my  boy,"  and 
"dear  boy,"  and  with  him  it  is  a  term  of  affection. 

Now,  my  dear  Frank,  did  you  ever  expect  your  father  to 
devote  so  much  space  to  writing  about  himself? 

Your  devoted, 

Father. 

"The  Bishop  of  South  Carolina,  after  a  happy  speech,  con- 
cluded with  this  bit  of  sentiment,  which  won  him  hearty  ap- 
plause :* 

"I  want  to  assure  you,  gentlemen  of  California,  that  there 
is  in  South  Carolina  a  very  sincere  and  a  very  growing  senti- 
ment of  love  and  reverence  and  respect  for  this  great  country 
of  ours.  It  is  my  duty  to  say  that  I  believe  that  the  late 
President  of  the  United  States,  honored  be  his  memory,  as 
glorious  as  was  his  character,  has  done  more  for  the  people 
of  the  South,  more  for  my  dear  people  in  helping  us  to  a 
sincere,  self-respecting,  conscientious  respect  for  the  Stars 
and  Stripes  and  the  Government  that  overcame  us,  the  Gov- 
ernment that  persuaded  us  as  he  would  have  it,  persuaded  us 
by  an  affectionate  assimilation  in  arms  to  be  one — and  I  assure 
you  gentlemen  that  there  is  in  South  Carolina  to-day  as  faith- 

*The   Exaiiii)icr,    San   Francisco. 


ELLISON  CAPERS  209 

ful  and  as  sincere  and  as  loyal  a  purpose  and  determination 
to  be  true  to  this  country  as  there  was  some  years  ago  as 
faithful  and  loyal  a  determination  to  be  faithful  to  the  South- 
ern Confederacy." 


In  the  last  decade  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  crime  of 
homicide  had  grown  so  prevalent  throughout  South  Carolina 
that  Bishop  Capers  sought  to  arouse  and  influence  public 
opinion  by  presenting  the  principles  of  Christian  morality.  His 
Order  to  the  Church  (December  i,  1897)  was  addressed: 

To  the  Clergy  of  the  Protestant  ChurcJi  in  the  Diocese  of 
South  Carolina,  and  all  other  ministers  of  the  gospel 
throughout  the  State: 
The  sign  of  murder  is  upon  us.  Homicides  are  of  fre- 
quent distressing  occurrence,  and  in  our  judgment  the  public 
conscience  needs  to  be  instructed  and  the  public  mind  aroused 
to  a  sense  of  the  danger  which  threatens  the  character  of 
our  people.  They  need  to  be  instructed  upon  the  sacred- 
ness  of  human  life  as  a  gift  of  Almighty  God,  whose  pre- 
rogative it  is  to  take  what  He  alone  can  give.  Without 
warrant  from  Him  no  man  may  lawfully  take  his  brother's 
life.  The  soldier  on  the  battle-field,  the  officer  of  law  in  dis- 
charge of  his  prescribed  duties,  the  citizen  in  defense  of  his 
own  life,  may  take  life  without  incurring  the  guilt  of  murder, 
for  they  act  by  warrant  of  delegated  authority  of  "rulers" 
who  are  "God's  ministers,"  and  "bear  the  sword"  by  Divine 
authority  to  "punish  evildoers";  but  such  murders  as  have  of 
late  outraged  the  law  of  God,  and  degraded  the  sacredness 
of  life  and  dishonored  the  courage  and  character  of  our  people, 
can  lay  no  claim  whatsoever  to  the  sanction  of  Divine  au- 
thority. We  feel,  beloved,  that  public  sentiment  needs  to  be 
aroused  to  a  higher  and  nobler  estimate  of  human  life.  We 
call  upon  our  clergy  to  rebuke  the  murderer,  and  to  proclaim 
the  law  of  Almighty  God,  given  to  consecrate  and  bless  the 


2IO  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

life  of  every  man  made  in  His  image,  upheld  by  His  provi- 
dence, and  redeemed  by  the  precious  blood  of  His  own  Son, 
our  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ.  I  therefore  appoint  Sunday,  the 
19th  of  December,  the  fourth  Sunday  in  Advent,  on  which 
day  I  call  upon  the  clergy  of  the  diocese  to  preach  against  the 
crime  of  murder,  now  so  prevalent  in  our  State,  and  I  most 
respectfully  invite  our  brethren,  the  ministers  of  Christ  of  all 
denominations,  to  unite  with  us  on  that  day  in  upholding  the 
majesty  of  God's  law,  the  sacredness  of  human  life,  and  the 
honor  of  our  beloved  State. 

Faithfully, 

Ellison  Capers, 

Bishop  of  Diocese  of  S.  Carolina. 

The  New  York  Journal,  commenting  on  this  order,  says: 

"  'The  sign  of  murder  is  upon  us.'  In  this  tersely  put 
epigram  the  Right  Rev.  Ellison  Capers,  Bishop  of  the  Epis- 
copal Church  for  the  diocese  of  South  Carolina,  calls  attention 
to  the  lamentable  prevalence  of  the  germ  of  homicide  in  the 
minds  of  the  people  of  that  State,  and  in  pursuance  of  instruc- 
tion from  the  Diocesan  Council,  has  fixed  a  day  upon  which 
all  the  clergy  of  the  Episcopal  Church  within  the  boundaries 
of  South  Carolina  are  to  plead  with  their  congregations  to 
banish  murder  from  their  hearts. 

'The  day  selected  is  December  19,  which  is,  in  the  calendar 
of  the  Church,  the  fourth  Sunday  in  Advent.     .     .     . 

"The  message  of  Bishop  Capers  is  an  unusual  and  striking 
document,  one  wath  few  precedents,  if  any,  in  the  history  of 
the  Protestant  Church.  It  is  provoked  by  a  remarkable  con- 
dition of  affairs  in  this  hot-blooded  Southern  State,  and  is 
promulgated  by  one  of  the  most  interesting  figures  in  the 
American  pulpit." 

Bishop  Capers  entered  into  the  work  of  his  episcopate  with 
unabated  zeal  and  devotion.  The  closing  years  of  "that  noble 
gentleman  and  devoted  servant  of  God  and  his  Church,  the 
Rt.  Rev.  W.  B.  W.  Howe,"  marked  a  stormy  period  of  dis- 


ELLISON  CAPERS  211 

sent  and  strife  in  the  Church  in  South  CaroHna.  Seven 
churches  had  withdrawn  from  official  affiliation  with  the 
diocese.  Negro  representation  in  the  Diocesan  Convention 
was  the  bone  of  contention.  The  rector  of  one  of  the  most 
prominent  and  influential  churches  in  the  city  of  Charleston 
was  preaching  that  the  negro  had  no  soul,  and  published  a 
book  to  sustain  his  theory.  In  1893  Bishop  Howe  was  a  con- 
firmed invalid.  He  turned  the  active  management  of  all  the 
affairs  of  his  diocese  over  to  his  coadjutor.  Bishop  Capers 
began  his  official  career  with  a  loyal  band  of  brethren  of  both 
orders,  and  finding  their  unity  in  him,  it  was  but  a  short  time 
until  the  bolting  parishes  came  back  and  the  diocese  was  once 
more  imited.  This  was  not  accomplished  by  making  clergy- 
men and  laymen  to  feel  that  they  must  surrender  their  opinions. 
But  with  tact  and  patience,  courageous  adherence  to  principle, 
by  precept  and  example,  their  bishop  led  them  to  place  duty 
to  the  Church  above  pride  of  opinion  and  loyalty  to  Christ 
before  gratification  of  personal  ambition.  Through  the  judi- 
cious and  self-sacrificing  discharge  of  his  office  he  touched 
the  chord  that  vibrates  in  the  hearts  of  men.  and  with  noble 
spirit  the  whole  diocese  responded  to  his  leadership. 

He  gave  himself  unsparingly  to  the  work  of  the  Church 
within  his  diocese  and  he  accepted  but  few  invitations  which 
took  him  from  the  diocese  and  official  duties  in  South  Carolina. 

An  interesting  exception  was  to  accept  the  invitation  to  de- 
liver the  annual  "Flower  Sermon"  in  St.  Louis,  Mo.  The  direc- 
tors of  the  beautiful  "Shaw  Memorial  Gardens"  provided  for  an 
annual  sermon  to  be  preached  in  that  city  in  memory  of  Henry 
Shaw,  the  benefactor.  Bishop  Capers  was  one  of  the  preachers. 
Another  notable  exception  was  when  in  May.  1898.  during 
Bishop  Potter's  absence  at  the  Lambeth  Conference,  London, 
England,  Bishop  Capers  presided  over  the  diocese  of  New 
York.  During  the  brief  period  he  exercised  the  episcopal 
office  in  this  great  diocese  he  confirmed  five  hundred  persons. 
He  tells  us  that  he  derived  great  inspiration  not  only  from 
the   courteous   and  brotherly   reception   by   the   New   York 


212  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

clergy,  as  well  as  the  overflowing  congregations  which  greeted 
him  at  every  service,  but  more  especially  from  his  administra- 
tions to  the  sick  and  needy  in  the  great  hospitals  and  asylums 
he  visited.  In  his  official  journal  we  get  little  touches  here 
and  there  which  reveal  the  heart  and  mind  of  the  good  Bishop 
in  the  exercise  of  his  office  in  New  York. 


May  27 — Ascension  Day.  In  the  afternoon  visited  St. 
Luke's  Hospital.  In  the  chapel  I  confirmed  twenty-five  per- 
sons, and  made  an  address.  Eight  of  the  class  were  nurses 
and  seventeen  patients  of  this  great  institution.  After  service 
confirmed  five  patients  in  the  separate  wards.  One  of  these 
was  a  young  man  waiting  on  my  visitation  to  be  confimied 
before  he  submitted  to  a  dangerous  operation;  and  another 
was  a  sweet-faced  girl  who  was  anxious  to  renew  her  bap- 
tismal vows  before  she  laid  down  her  burden  of  pain  and  sick- 
ness forever.  When  I  had  confirmed  her,  I  shall  never  forget 
her  far-away  look  of  peace,  as  she  took  my  hand  and,  turning 
her  brown  eyes  upward,  she  said,  with  an  effort:  "Thank 
you,  Bishop ;  I  am  so  thankful  that  I  am  in  the  communion  of 
the  Church.     I  am  so  thankful." 

June  2 — Attended  the  Commencement  exercises  of  the  Gen- 
eral Theological  Seminary,  and  at  the  request  of  the  dean 
made  the  address  to  the  graduates. 

June  7 — Received  a  communication  from  the  Standing  Com- 
mittee of  the  diocese  of  New  York  requesting  me  to  prepare 
and  authorize  a  special  Collect  for  use  in  the  diocese  on  the 
20th  of  June,  being  the  day  appointed  by  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land to  commemorate  the  sixtieth  anniversary  of  the  good 
reign  of  Victoria. 

June  II — 8  P.  M.  Evening  prayer  and  address,  this  being 
the  fifth  address  to-day. 

June  13 — Trinity  Sunday.  The  ordinations  were  held  in 
St.  Chrysostom's  Church,  the  rector.  Dr.  Sill,  and  his  staff  of 
clergy,  Archdeacon  Tiffany,  Chaplain  Baldwin  and  the  pro- 


ELLISON  CAPERS  213 

fessors  of  the  General  Seminary  being  present  and  taking  part 
in  the  impressive  services. 

I  preached  the  sermon  and  celebrated  the  holy  communion. 

Eight  men  were  ordained  deacons  and  four  priests. 

At  4  p.  M.  in  the  chapel  of  the  Good  Shepherd,  Blackwell's 
Island,  I  confirmed  thirty-five  persons  and  preached.  In  the 
wards  of  the  hospitals  I  confirmed  nine  others  who  were  unable 
to  go  to  church.  All  the  confirmed  were  inmates  of  the  great 
asylum  for  the  poor  and  the  sick  on  the  Island,  to  whom  the 
Church  is  administering  the  consolations  of  the  gospel,  the 
rector,  Rev.  Mr.  Prophett,  being  the  zealous  and  devoted  pas- 
tor. It  is  a  glorious  work  of  mercy,  worthy  of  the  interest 
shown  in  it  by  the  presence  of  the  city  officials  and  men  and 
women  of  the  Church  who  have  it  under  their  fostering 
charge.  After  the  long  service  at  St.  Chrysostom's,  and  the 
hurried  trip  to  the  Island,  I  was  refreshed  and  inspired  by  the 
work  before  me,  and  rejoiced  to  welcome  the  weary  and 
heavy-laden  to  the  rest  which  only  their  Lord  can  give  them. 
"It  was  good  to  be  there."  At  8  p.  m.  in  Christ  Church,  Rye, 
the  rector,  Dr.  Kirby  said  evening  prayer.  I  confirmed  four- 
teen persons  and  addressed  them,  and  Mr.  Baldwin  preached. 
We  got  back  to  New  York  at  midnight.  With  this  day's 
labor  I  completed  the  work  I  undertook  for  the  Bishop  of  New 
York.  To  the  Rev.  Mr.  Baldwin,  the  efficient  chaplain  of 
the  Bishop  of  New  York,  I  am  indebted  for  many  courtesies, 
and  to  the  clergy  for  their  cordial  and  brotherly  consideration. 

The  following  telegram  from  the  New  York  World  indi- 
cates Bishop  Capers'  national  reputation : 

New  York,  N.  Y.,  Feby.  11,  1897. 
Bishop  Capers, 

Columbia,  S.  C. 
The   World  asks  you  as  one  of  the  leaders  of  American 
thought  to  lend  the  influence  of  your  views  and  name  through 
its  columns  to  insure  the  ratification  of  the  peace  treaty.    Only 


214  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

through  the  expressions  of  citizens  of  eminence  can  the  senti- 
ment of  the  country  be  brought  to  bear  on  the  Senate. 

An  expression  from  you  by  wire  will  help. 

Answer  is  prepaid.  "The  World." 

Episcopal  Residence. 

Columbia,  S.  C,  Feby.  12,  '97. 
To  THE  "World," 

New  York. 
The  arbitration  treaty  as  negotiated  is  a  triumph  of  wisdom 
and  an  honor  to  our  country.     Failure  to  ratify  it  will  be,  in 
my    judgment,    a    misfortune    alike    to    both    England    and 
America. 

Such  a  treaty  between  the  greatest  of  Christian  nations 
must  be  an  example  of  power  and  influence  in  promoting  hon- 
orable peace  without  resort  to  the  calamities  of  war.  God 
speed  the  treaty.  Ellison  Capers. 

We  here  introduce  a  characteristically  magnanimous  letter: 

Bishop's  House. 

Columbia,  S.  C,  May  i,  1897. 
Mrs.  L.  E.  Norris,  Secy.,  etc., 

Aiken,  S.  C. 

My  Dear  Mrs.  N orris — I  have  had  the  honor  to  receive  your 
very  kind  letter,  communicating  the  most  complimentary  action 
of  the  Daughters  of  the  Confederacy,  recently  organized  in 
Aiken,  by  which  you  have  asked  that  my  name  be  given  to  your 
Chapter.  I  deeply  appreciate  the  very  great  honor  you  confer 
upon  me  by  taking  such  action,  and  I  beg  with  all  my  heart 
to  express  my  sincerest  acknowledgments  to  the  ladies  of  the 
chapter. 

But  may  I  ask  your  indulgence  while  I  submit  most  respect- 
fully that,  as  my  name  has  been  given  to  the  chapter  of  the 
Daughters  formed  at  Florence,  would  it  be  just  to  other  Con- 


ELLISON  CAPERS  215 

federate  soldiers,  whose  names  are  more  worthy  of  honor 
than  mine,  that  I  should  have  two  chapters  in  the  State  named 
for  me?  I  am  sure  you  will  not  think  me  unmindful  of  the 
honor  conferred  upon  me  by  your  chapter  if  I  most  respect- 
fully suggest  that  you  give  the  name  of  one  of  our  dead  heroes 
to  your  chapter,  and  may  I  suggest  the  name  of  my  gallant 
brother-in-law,  Col.  Francis  Gendron  Palmer,  of  the  Hol- 
combe  Legion,  who  fell  mortally  wounded  at  the  Second  Battle 
of  ]\Ianassas  while  leading  his  regiment  in  a  charge  against  the 
enemies'  guns.  Col.  Palmer  was  a  noble  man  and  a  gallant 
soldier,  and  distinguished  himself  on  our  coast  and  in  Vir- 
ginia. He  was  the  great  grandnephew  of  Gen.  Francis  Marion 
and  the  brother  of  your  own  Mrs.  Legare.  I  take  the  liberty, 
in  case  you  would  prefer  to  name  your  chapter  for  one  of  our 
dead  generals,  to  suggest  the  names  of  Gen.  Staterights  Gist 
and  Gen.  Clement  H.  Stevens.  Gen.  Gist  was  killed  at 
Franklin,  Tennessee,  leading  his  brigade  in  that  memorable 
battle,  and  Gen.  Stevens  was  mortally  wounded  on  the  20th 
of  July,  1864,  in  front  of  his  brigade  in  Gen.  Hood's  First 
Battle  at  Atlanta. 

I  feel  sure  that  you  will  not  think  me  inappreciative  of  the 
honor  you  have  done  me,  and  will  understand  that  I  only 
want  to  co-operate  with  you  in  doing  justice  to  the  names  of 
our  gallant  soldiers. 

With  every  sentiment  of  loving  respect,  I  am. 

Most  faithfully  yours, 

E.  Capers. 

A  virtue  which  characterized  Bishop  Capers  and  endeared 
him  to  his  co-laborers,  whether  they  served  with  him  in  a 
subordinate  capacity  or  otherwise,  was  the  genuine  pleasure 
he  derived  from  their  success  and  the  personal  pride  he  took 
in  their  accomplishments  or  achievements.  Bishops  Gailor 
and  Sessums  were  both  consecrated  to  the  episcopate  when 
unusually  young  for  such  an  honor  and  dignity.  We  recall 
very  distinctly  Bishop  Capers'  pride  in  the  brilliant  attainments 


2i6  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

of  these  two  young  bishops.  When  the  General  Convention 
met  in  Washington,  D.  C,  1896,  Bishop  and  Mrs.  Capers 
attended  the  convention  on  their  "bridal  trip,"  after  having 
been  married  for  forty  years.  The  Hon.  John  G.  Capers  w^as 
living  in  Washington  at  the  time,  and  W.  B.  Capers  was  at 
the  Virginia  Seminary,  within  a  few  miles  of  the  city.  Other 
members  of  the  family  made  it  convenient  to  be  in  Washington 
at  that  time.  There  was  a  family  reunion.  During  the  meet- 
ing of  the  convention  bishops  filled  the  different  pulpits  in  the 
city  and  adjacent  communities.  Upon  the  occasion  to  which 
we  refer,  Bishop  Capers  was  to  preach  in  one  of  the  Wash- 
ington churches,  and  Bishop  Gailor  was  to  fill  the  pulpit  of 
St.  Andrew's  Church.  Bishop  Capers  sent  the  entire  family 
around  to  hear  the  Bishop  of  Tennessee,  and  took  as  much 
pride  in  hearing  of  his  "masterly  sermon"  as  if  he  had  been 
a  son  or  brother. 

The  tenth  anniversary  to  conmiemorate  the  bishopric  of  the 
soldier-priest,  Ellison  Capers,  was  celebrated  at  old  Trinity 
with  a  solemnity  and  beauty  of  service  aptly  appropriate  and 
profoundly  impressive.  It  is  doubtful  if  any  ceremonial  of  a 
similar  character  ever  held  in  this  State  was  more  thoroughly 
imbued  with  the  spirit  of  love  and  affection  for  the  object 
of  its  purpose. 

The  Rev.  Cantey  Johnson  read  the  morning  prayers,  the 
Rev.  John  Kershaw,  of  old  St.  Michael's,  Charleston,  preached 
the  sermon,  and  the  Rev.  Messrs.  Churchill  Satterlee,  Johnson, 
Witsell.  Sams,  and  Gordon  assisted  the  Bishop  in  the  office 
of  the  holy  communion. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Kershaw  had  been  assigned  the  difficult  task 
of  preaching  the  sermon,  or  perhaps  it  could  more  properly  be 
termed  an  address.  His  earnest  words  were  listened  to  with 
the  greatest  interest  by  the  congregation.  His  introductory 
remarks  follow : 

"Lying  on  the  fragrant  grass  at  Aiken,  in  the  fall  of  the 
year  1892,  communing  together  in  lazy  after-dinner  fashion, 


ELLISON  CAPERS  217 

were  two  presbyters  of  this  diocese,  called  there  by  a  meeting 
of  the  convocation  of  which  they  were  both  members.  Pres- 
ently one  of  them  said  to  the  other,  calling  him  by  name :  'Do 
you  know  you  are  going  to  be  the  next  bishop  of  this  diocese?' 
The  reply  was:  'What  makes  you  think  so?'  His  friend 
answered:  'Well,  I  believe  the  majority  of  the  clergy  want 
you,  and  I  am  sure  the  laity  will  be  for  you  by  an  overwhelm- 
ing majority.'  Starting  to  a  sitting  position,  the  other  man 
said:  'If  I  thought  that,  it  would  scare  me  half  to  death'; 
not  parsable,  perhaps,  but  expressive.  The  friend  imperturb- 
ably  commented :  'Well,  it  is  going  to  be  so,  and  you  had 
better  begin  to  accustom  yourself  to  the  idea  in  advance  of  its 
realization.'  The  next  May  the  friend's  prediction  was  ful- 
filled in  every  particular,  and  his  advice  must  have  been  taken, 
because  our  present  diocesan  has  managed  to  survive  the  shock 
of  election  to  his  high  office  for  ten  years,  thus  affording  us 
the  opportunity  to  unite  in  signalizing  the  event. 

"The  stormy  episcopate  of  that  noble  gentleman  and  devoted 
servant  of  God  and  His  Church,  the  Rt.  Rev.  W.  B.  W.  Howe, 
was  drawing  to  its  close  at  the  time  the  two  friends  were  thus 
conversing,  and  Bishop  Howe  had  expressed  his  intention  of 
asking  for  an  assistant  to  be  given  to  him,  thus  preparing  the 
mind  of  the  diocese  in  a  measure  for,  and  placing  before  it  the 
duty  of,  making  choice  of  a  frt  person  to  serve  in  that  most 
exalted  of  sacred  offices  known  to  this  Church.  It  was  a  time 
of  deep  anxiety  to  us,  because  the  echoes  of  the  protracted 
struggle  through  which  the  diocese  had  passed  still  lingered 
and  its  wounds  had  hardly  healed.  It  was  felt  that  it  would 
not  do  to  run  the  risk  of  choosing  for  our  bishop  one  who 
might  rekindle  the  fires  of  strife  by  reviving  the  question  so 
recently  adjusted,  chiefly  through  the  mediatorial  efforts  of 
our  present  bishop,  an  adjustment  which  had  resulted  in  re- 
storing fraternal  relation  in  some  degree,  so  rendering  it  pos- 
sible for  all  to  confer  together  first,  and  then  to  agree  upon  a 
basis  of  settlement,  finally  accepted  by  the  diocese  in  conven- 
tion assembled.     The  blessing  of  the  peacemaker  descended 


2i8  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

thus  upon  him  who,  as  no  other  man  in  the  diocese,  combined 
in  himself  those  quahties  ilkistrated  by  his  actions  in  that 
critical  time,  those  dispositions  that  were  intuitively  recognized 
as  most  important  at  that  turning-point  in  our  history. 

"After  the  communion  service  had  been  concluded,  the  Rev. 
W.  B.  Gordon  stepped  forward  and,  beckoning  to  the  Bishop, 
smilingly  asked  him  to  come  forth.  The  Bishop  stood  at 
attention,  when  Mr.  Gordon  paid  him  the  highest  possible 
eulogy,  and  presented  to  him  'the  handsomest  robes  that  could 
be  purchased  in  New  York  for  love  or  money'  and  a  magnifi- 
cent loving  cup.  The  sum  of  $310  was  dropped  in  the  loving 
cup,  the  gift  of  the  clergy  for  good  measure. 

"The  speaker  briefly  reviewed  the  Bishop's  splendid  work 
for  the  Church  throughout,  and  'told  him  frankly  to  his  face 
just  what  the  clergy  and  the  laity  of  the  Episcopal  Church 
thought  of  him,  which  is  perhaps  more  than  they  ever  thought 
of  any  other  churchman  in  the  State.' 

"The  faces  of  the  clergymen  ranged  about  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Gordon  showed  very  plainly  how  thoroughly  they  voiced  the 
sentiments  that  he  so  gracefully  uttered.  Bishop-elect  Bratton 
of  Mississippi,  formerly  of  this  State,  followed  in  a  graceful 
encomium,  and  presented  a  handsome  private  communion  set 
for  the  use  of  the  sick  and  other  purposes,  the  gift  of  the 
children  of  the  Sundav  school. 

"The  object  of  all  these  attentions  was  plainly  affected  when 
the  Bishop  started  out  to  reply.  He  said  that  it  was  one  of  the 
most  sacred  moments  of  his  life,  and  that  he  felt  deeply  the 
honor  that  was  being  paid  him.  Then  in  the  graceful  fashion  of 
which  he  is  the  past  master,  the  Bishop  proceeded  to  pay  the 
clergy  and  laity  of  the  Episcopal  Church  of  South  Carolina 
almost  as  high  an  honor  as  they  had  paid  him.  He  could  never 
have  succeeded  as  he  had  had  it  not  been  for  their  loyalty 
and  faithfulness  to  the  cause  and  their  support  of  the  bishop 
of  the  diocese.  What  the  Rev.  Mr.  Kershaw  had  said  in  the 
convention  was  entirely  true,  and  when  he  was  elected  he 


ELLISON  CAPERS  219 

recalled  the  fact  that  after  the  vote  had  been  taken  first  it 
was  made  con  amore.  In  his  heart  of  hearts  the  speaker  said 
that  he  had  doubted  his  ability  to  fulfill  the  duties  of  his  office 
adequately,  but  the  loving  support  of  the  ministers  of  the 
State,  as  well  as  the  laity,  had  dispelled  the  doubts  of  ten 
years. 

"The  Bishop  then  recalled  a  luncheon  of  some  ten  or  eleven 
bishops  that  he  had  attended.  At  these  luncheons  it  was  cus- 
tomary for  the  bishops  to  discuss  the  differences  that  some- 
times arise  with  their  ministers  and  the  vestries.  The  Bishop 
said  that  he  recalled  listening  to  the  stories  that  they  nearly 
all  had  to  tell.  Finally  when  they  had  finished  someone  turned 
and  asked  him  to  tell  his.  But  South  Carolina  could  tell  none — 
the  Bishop  explained  that  when  the  bishops  were  together  in 
that  manner  every  bishop  was  called  by  the  name  of  his  State. 
Some  astonishment  was  expressed  when  the  Bishop  informed 
his  brethren  that  he  had  absolutely  no  experience  to  tell  of 
this  description.  Continuing,  he  explained  what  a  source  of 
the  greatest  gratification  this  had  been  to  him.  There  had 
never  been  a  time  when  the  Bishop  could  not  agree  with  his 
flock.  He  said  that  without  this  co-operation  and  sympathy 
of  both  the  clergy  and  laity  he  did  not  believe  that  this  occa- 
sion could  have  been  celebrated.  He  did  not  owe  it  to  himself, 
but  to  the  clergy  and  the  laity  standing  by  him  on  every 
occasion,  as  a  gallant  soldier  follows  his  leader,  that  he  had 
been  successful. 

"There  had  been  no  recalcitrant  spirit.  Only  last  night  there 
had  been  a  meeting,  and  seven  thousand  dollars  had  been 
appropriated  for  the  diocesan  missions.  Yet  the  wealthy  State 
of  New  York  subscribed  only  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  for 
that  purpose,  and  he  referred  to  a  letter  he  had  from  New 
York  asking  for  the  methods  that  were  employed,  so  that  New 
York  might  profit  by  the  experience  by  which  South  Carolina 
has  been  able  to  accomplish  so  much.  The  Bishop  told  of 
efforts  to  raise  a  petty  seven  hundred  dollars  for  the  salary 


220  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

of  a  noble  fellow,  but  only  six  hundred  dollars  of  this 
amount  could  be  raised,  and  he  expressed  his  confidence  that 
he  would  do  his  work  just  as  if  he  had  the  other  pittance. 

"The  Bishop  concluded  with  an  eloquent  peroration  for 
God's  blessing  on  the  flock,  and  the  great  body  of  visiting 
clergymen  marched  out  of  the  church  to  'J^i"'-^salem  the 
Golden,'  and  a  few  minutes  afterward  the  entire  company  at- 
tended the  luncheon  which  had  been  arranged  by  the  ladies 
of  the  parish.  Several  speeches  were  made  at  this  luncheon, 
among  which  were  some  very  interesting  ones  which  lack  of 
space  prevents  publishing."* 

Of  the  last  five  years  of  Bishop  Capers'  episcopate  four 
were  years  into  which  he  crowded  a  great  amount  of  work  and 
during  which  he  maintained  that  standard  of  industry  and 
devotion  which  characterized  his  administration.  This  work 
he  accomplished  under  ever  increasing  difficulties.  His  health 
began  to  break  under  the  strain  of  the  incessant  labors,  expo- 
sure, and  fatigue  incident  to  a  bishop's  life.  And  then  Mrs. 
Capers'  ill-health  also  placed  a  great  tax  upon  his  moral  and 
physical  nature.  His  constant  anxiety  and  tender  sympathy, 
added  to  the  great  exertion  of  hard  trips  made  to  administer 
to  her  comfort  while  fulfilling  his  official  appointments,  told 
upon  him  in  every  way,  except  in  his  unerring  devotion  to  his 
official  duties.  For  her  convenience,  as  well  as  to  relieve  his 
own  anxiety,  he  had  an  additional  telephone  so  placed  that  she 
could  talk  to  him  from  her  bed,  and  he  arranged  that  only  the 
residence  telephone  could  be  rung.  In  this  way,  when  he 
called  up  from  various  parts  of  the  diocese,  if  Mrs.  Capers 
was  sleeping  or  not  able  to  talk,  his  inquiry  would  not  wake  or 
disturb  her. 

With  the  tenth  anniversary  of  his  episcopate  the  beloved 
Bishop  stood  at  the  zenith  of  his  powers.  During  the  four 
years  succeeding,  while  there  was  no  perceptible  change  in  his 
physical  vigor  or  in  the  strong  and  loving  administration  of 
his  office,  yet,  having  reached  the  zenith,  the  decline  was  inevi- 
table, and  looking  back  upon  those  years,  we  can  now  realize 

*Tl!e  State,  Columbia,   S.  C. 


ELLISON  CAPERS  221 

that  nature  repeatedly  gave  warning  that  the  machinery  of 
mind  and  body  was  being  driven  at  too  high  a  tension  and 
taxed  beyond  its  strength. 

During  this  last  period  of  active  work,  in  his  preaching  he 
maintained  his  usual  level  of  vigorous  thought.  In  fact, 
the  biographer  of  his  father  could  not  have  written  more 
truly  of  him :  "Even  the  commonplaces  of  the  pulpit  delivered 
in  his  eloquent  voice  charmed  the  popular  ear.  Sometimes  he 
rose  above  that  level,  and  then  the  intellectualist  was  struck 
with  the  freshness  and  affluence  of  his  ideas,  with  the  force 
which  vitalized  his  conceptions.  In  his  ordinary  preaching  a 
flash  of  unexpected  light  would  frequently  be  thrown  upon 
some  important  point  in  the  discussion :  the  latent  power  or 
beauty  of  a  word  would  be  brought  out."  Thus  he  was  elo- 
quent, direct,  didactic,  or  persuasive  in  making  his  appeal  to 
the  heart  and  consciences  of  men  and  inspiring  them  to 
"think  on  these  things"  that  they  might  receive  the  Word  of 
Life. 

In  March,  1896,  while  visiting  the  church  at  St.  James, 
Santee,  Bishop  Capers  contracted  a  severe  cold,  which  set- 
tled on  his  lungs.  Moving  about  so  constantly  ( from  appoint- 
ment to  appointment),  he  could  not  take  proper  care  of  him- 
self, and  though  he  finally  overcame  the  cold  and  threw  it  off 
altogether,  this  seemed  to  be  the  beginning  of  a  recurrence  of 
similar  colds  during  the  severe  winter  months.  The  following 
January,  1897,  he  had  another  such  attack.  In  writing  to 
one  of  his  children  from  his  bed  of  illness  he  says : 

"I  am,  in  my  opinion,  very  near  having  pneumonia,  if  indeed 
I  haven't  it  now.  Dr.  DuBose  is  attending  me.  He  says  I 
will  escape  pneumonia,  but  my  lungs  seem  to  me  this  morning 
very  much  affected.    I  hope  not." 

The  exposure  and  labors  incident  to  the  work  of  a  bishop, 
and  incessant  demands  upon  his  voice,  tended  to  increase  this 
tendency  to  bronchial  attacks,  until  as  they  grew  more  and 
more  severe  he  was  afflicted  upon  more  than  one  occasion 
with  bronchial  pneumonia.     Naturally  strong  and  vigorous, 


222  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

he  would  baffle  the  disease  and  recuperate  with  remark- 
able rapidity,  apparently  none  the  worse  because  of  the  ill- 
ness. 

The  General  Convention  which  met  in  Boston.  1904,  was 
the  last  upon  which  he  was  in  attendance.  There  he  was  the 
guest  of  Bishop  and  Mrs.  Potter.  During  his  visit  he  cele- 
brated his  sixty-seventh  birthday.  In  some  way  this  fact  was 
discovered  by  his  genial  host  and  hostess,  and  communicated  to 
the  other  house-guests.  It  was  agreed  that  they  would  give 
him  a  surprise  and  commemorate  the  occasion  by  presenting 
the  Bishop  of  South  Carolina  with  a  token  of  their  esteem 
and  admiration  and  their  appreciation  of  his  contribution  to 
the  pleasure  of  the  house-party. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Grosvenor  and  Bishop  Hare  were  appointed 
to  make  the  selection,  and  they  decided  upon  a  beautiful  sil- 
ver service.  This  was  presented  from  Bishop  and  Mrs.  Potter 
and  their  guests,  and  is  now  prized  by  his  family  as  a  lovely 
souvenir  of  his  last  attendance  upon  a  General  Convention  of 
the  Church. 

In  1905  a  number  of  the  clergy  of  his  diocese  began  to  agi- 
tate the  question  of  giving  him  an  assistant.  This  the  Bishop 
discouraged,  upon  the  general  proposition  that  he  could  do 
the  work  and  that  the  diocese  was  not  prepared  to  support  two 
bishops,  and  he  therefore  did  not  think  it  right  to  put  this 
additional  tax  upon  it.  However,  his  health  failing,  the  next 
year  he  issued  to  the  clergy  and  people  the  following  pastoral : 

pastoral  from  the  bishop 

Bishop's  House, 
Columbia.  S.  C,  Dec.  20,  1906. 

To   THE   Clergy  and  Laity   of  the  Diocese  of   South 

Carolina. 

Dear  Brethren:    You  will  recall  that  in  my  annual  address 

to  the  council  at  Camden  in  May.   1905,  I  referred  to  the 

subject  of  the  election  of  a  bishop  coadjutor  for  the  diocese. 


ELLISON  CAPERS  223 

This  reference  was  made  only  because  it  had  been  suggested 
to  me  by  several  of  my  brethren,  lay  and  clerical,  and  not 
from  a  desire  on  my  part  to  propose  such  an  election.  On 
the  contrary,  I  gave  you  at  the  time  my  reasons  for  declining 
my  consent  to  the  proposal,  I  did  not  feel  then  that  I  was 
in  any  way  disqualified  for  the  full  discharge  of  my  episcopal 
duties,  "by  reason  of  age  or  other  permanent  cause  of  infirm- 
ity," and  I  could  not  conscientiously  ask  you  to  give  me  a 
coadjutor. 

I  cannot  say  this  now,  dear  brethren.  My  health  has 
seriously  suffered  in  the  past  year,  and  has  become  so  uncer- 
tain as  to  interfere  materially  with  my  visitations. 

Though  I  do  not  distrust  the  good  Providence  that  has  pre- 
served me  in  the  past,  I  have  reason  to  believe  that  my  health 
will  be  very  uncertain  in  the  future,  if  it  does  not  become  per- 
manently so.  Under  these  conditions  the  interests  of  the  dio- 
cese must  suffer.  In  this  judgment  I  am  supported  by  the 
opinion  and  advice  of  my  physician,  whose  certificate  I  will 
submit  to  council  at  the  proper  time  as  part  of  the  record  of 
my  request. 

For  this  reason,  and  with  the  best  interests  of  the  diocese 
in  my  mind  and  heart,  I  hereby  give  notice  to  the  churches 
that,  Providence  permitting,  at  the  approaching  council,  to  be 
held  in  Trinity  Church,  Columbia,  in  May,  1907,  I  will  read 
my  canonical  consent  to  the  election  of  a  bishop  coadjutor, 
and  will  expect  his  election  by  that  council. 

I  have  not  taken  this  step  without  the  most  serious  reflec- 
tion, and  not  until  I  had  sought  the  judgment  and  counsel  of 
the  Standing  Committee.  It  is  a  matter  of  thankful  satisfac- 
tion to  me  that  I  have  the  sympathy  and  approval  of  the  com- 
mittee in  addressing  this  letter  to  you,  and  that,  as  far  as  I 
know  and  believe,  it  will  meet  the  approval  of  my  people. 

Suffer  me  a  few  words  of  loving  counsel  before  I  conclude. 

It  has  been  characteristic  of  the  diocese  of  South  Carolina 
that  our  episcopal  elections  have  been  conducted  without  the 
excitement  of  nominating  addresses  and  in  humble  reliance 


224  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

upon  the  guidance  of  God  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  gives  us  a 
right  judgment  in  all  things.  Let  us  abide  faithfully  by  this 
rule.  While  we  use  our  best  judgment  in  considering  the 
qualifications  of  such  presbyters  as  may  commend  themselves 
to  us  as  suited  to  fill  the  oftice  of  bishop  in  the  Church  of 
God,  let  us  determine  upon  nothing  and  decide  upon  no  man 
without  faithful  prayer  to  God  for  His  Divine  direction.  I 
have  sincere  confidence  in  your  wisdom  and  discretion,  and 
feel  assured  that  you  will  elect  to  be  your  coadjutor  a  pres- 
byter of  the  Church  who  will  be  worthy  of  the  confidence  and 
love  of  the  diocese.  As  far  as  my  humble  prayers  may  aid 
you,  they  will  be  given  you,  dear  brethren,  night  and  day.  To 
this  extent,  and  to  this  extent  only,  will  I  participate  in  the 
choice  of  my  successor — commending  you  to  God  and  the 
word  of  His  grace,  especially  as  He  has  revealed  to  His 
Church  through  the  First  Epistle  of  St.  Paul  to  Timothy  the 
qualifications  of  a  bishop. 
I   am,   dear  brethren. 

Faithfully  your  Bishop, 

Ellison  Capers. 

In  his  fourteenth  annual  address  to  his  Diocesan  Council, 
he  thus  refers  to  the  impending  election  of  a  bishop-coadjutor : 

"In  response  to  what  I  felt  to  be  the  general  wish  of  my 
brethren,  and  because  of  the  uncertain  condition  of  my 
health,  and  after  consulting  the  judgment  of  the  Standing 
Committee,  I  have  formally  asked  for  the  election  of  a 
bishop  coadjutor  by  this  council.  In  compliance  with  the  canon 
law  I  hereby  give  my  consent  to  such  election.  It  is  made 
my  duty  by  the  canon  to  state  the  duties  which  I  propose  to 
assign  to  the  bishop  coadjutor  when  he  shall  have  been  duly 
ordained  and  consecrated.  Accordingly,  I  herewith  state  to  the 
council  that  I  will  assign  a  definite  portion  of  the  diocese  to 
the  coadjutor  for  his  special  supervision  and  care,  committing 
to  him,  with  my  co-operation  and  advice,  all  episcopal  duties 


ELLISON  CAPERS  225 

therein,  reserving  to  myself  the  direction  and  care  of  the  mis- 
sions and  schools  among  colored  people,  the  reception  of  pos- 
tulants and  candidates  for  holy  orders,  and  the  privilege  of 
exchanging  visitations  with  the  coadjutor  whenever  it  is 
mutually  agreeable. 

"I  shall  gladly  do  all  in  my  power  to  further  the  episcopal 
work  and  intiuence  of  my  coadjutor,  and  I  feel  sure  he  will 
have  the  loving  and  loyal  support  of  the  whole  diocese.  To 
promote  his  acquaintance  with  all  sections  of  the  diocese,  1 
shall  so  arrange  his  visitations  as  to  give  him  the  opportunity 
to  know  our  people  and  to  identify  his  episcopate  with  all 
parts  of  South  Carolina. 

"You  may  well  know,  my  dear  brethren,  with  what  anxiety 
I  await  this  election.  It  means  very  much  to  me,  but  far 
more  to  you.  It  has  been,  and  is,  a  source  of  great  comfort 
to  me  to  trust  this  whole  matter  to  your  judginent.  I  have 
not  sought  to  influence  the  vote  of  one  man,  clergyman  or 
layman,  as  to  any  one  of  my  presbyters,  save  as  I  have  prayed 
that  God  would  give  you  a  sound  judgment.  This  much  I 
would  say,  dear  brethren,  and  beg  to  impress  the  thought  upon 
your  mind:  In  electing  your  coadjutor  you  are  electing  the 
future  bishop  of  South  Carolina.  The  coadjutor  succeeds 
the  bishop  by  the  right  of  law.  The  coadjutor  is  not  the  tem- 
porary assistant  of  the  bishop,  but  his  brother  bishop  and  his 
lawful  successor.  I  lovingly  bid  you  keep  this  in  mind,  and  I 
believe,  and  am  assured,  that  God  the  Holy  Ghost  will  guide 
you  to  a  wise  choice. 

"With  this  assurance,  dear  brethren,  I  submit  my  four- 
teenth annual  address  for  your  consideration,  and  invite  you 
to  the  duties  and  responsibilities  that  are  now  before  us." 

It  was  about  this  time  that  a  very  characteristic  incident 
occurred,  which  we  relate  here  to  show  the  broad  human  sym- 
pathy of  the  Bishop. 

He  was  among  the  passengers  on  a  train  that  ran  over  and 
badly  mangled  the  body  of  a  negro  man.     It  was  a  bitter  cold 


226  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

night.  The  train  was  stopped,  of  course,  and  the  suffering 
negro  placed  in  the  baggage  car.  With  other  passengers  the 
Bishop  came  forward  to  find  out  what  was  the  trouble.  See- 
ing the  poor  man  weltering  in  his  blood  and  shivering  with 
cold,  Bishop  Capers  instantly  took  off  his  overcoat  and  spread 
it  over  the  injured  man,  and  then  further  interested  himself 
to  alleviate  his  sufferings.  That  impulsive  act  was  character- 
istic, but  not  near  so  much  so  as  the  Bishop's  unconsciousness 
that  he  had  done  an  humble  creature  a  great  kindness,  and 
that  of  all  the  crowd  that  looked  upon  the  negro  he  was  the 
only  one  who  thought  of  offering  his  coat  and  soothing  his 
pain  by  depriving  himself. 


CHAPTER  XX 

THE   UNIVERSITY   OF  THE   SOUTH 

"Behind  every  great  movement  and  behind  every  great 
event  stand  great  men  or  some  great  personality."  The  mod- 
ern missions  movement  suggests  Gary  and  Mills.  The  Refor- 
mation brings  to  mind  Bishops  Cranmer,  Latimer,  and  Ridley 
as  well  as  Martin  Luther.  When  we  pass  from  the  sphere  of 
religious  reformations  to  that  of  education,  the  greatest  of 
England's  universities  suggests  the  scholar  king,  Henry  I, 
as  its  founder;  William  of  Wykcham  as  its  greatest  teacher; 
William  Durham  the  founder  of  scholarships  and  John  de 
Baliol  as  the  originator  of  its  system  of  "colleges."  In  the 
American  Church  Columbia  College  at  once  suggests  Bishop 
Hobart,  and  in  like  manner  Trinity  College,  Bishop  Brownell. 

The  University  of  the  South  brings  to  the  mind  its  great 
founders.  Bishops  Polk  and  Otey,  and  the  long  succession  of 
devoted  bishops,  clergy,  and  laymen  who  have  at  great  sacri- 
fice developed  and  maintained  it. 

On  the  roll  of  its  fathers  and  fosterers  are  to  be  found  as 
many  remarkable  men  and  great  personalities  as  were  ever 
identified  with  the  establishment  and  perpetuation  of  any  simi- 
lar institution.  Bishops  Polk,  Otey,  Elliott,  Cobbs,  Greene, 
Atkinson,  Davis,  Lay,  and  Rutledge  were  among  its  organ- 
izers. In  the  second  generation  of  bishops,  among  those  who 
after  the  War  came  to  the  rescue  of  Sewanee,  were  Bishop 
Ouintard,  who  revived  it ;  and  Bishops  Howe,  Lyman,  Weed, 
Beckwith,  Wilmer,  and  Gallaher,  who  brought  to  the  univer- 
sity a  rich  endowment  of  scholarship  as  well  as  churchly  and 
patriotic  devotion. 

227 


228  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

"A  thought  once  awakened  does  not  again  slumber,  but 
unfolds  itself  into  a  system  of  thought,  grows  in  man  after 
man,  generation  after  generation,  until  its  full  stature  is 
reached."  Bishop  Otey's  was  the  thought;  Bishop  Polk's 
the  system,  while  through  Bishop  Ouintard,  his  co-laborers, 
and  successors,  Sewanee's  Alumni  and  self-sacrificing  faculty, 
her  present  heroic  stature  has  been   reached. 

The  thought  of  Bishop  Otey  crystallized  in  the  mind  of 
Bishop  Polk,  who  in  1857  outlined  and  perfected  the  organi- 
zation. The  plan  was  to  locate  a  university  as  central  and 
convenient  as  possible  to  the  affiliating  dioceses  of  North 
Carolina,  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Elorida,  Alabama.  Missis- 
sippi, Louisiana,  Texas,  Arkansas,  and  Tennessee.  The  uni- 
versity was  to  be  under  the  sole  and  perpetual  direction  of 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  represented  through  a  board 
of  trustees.  This  board  was  to  be  composed  of  the  bishops  of 
the  affiliating  dioceses,  and  one  clergyman  and  two  laymen 
from  each  such  diocese.  The  university  was  not  to  begin 
operation  until  the  sum  of  five  hundred  thousand  dollars  was 
actually  secured. 

"Ecclesia  et  patria,"  if  not  the  official  motto  of  the  univer- 
sity of  the  South,  has  been  the  spirit  that  inspired  and  char- 
acterized her  from  her  inception  to  the  present  time.  The 
purpose  for  which  Sewanee  was  established  was  "for  the  cul- 
tivation of  true  religion,  learning,  and  virtue,  that  thereby  God 
may  be  glorified  and  the  happiness  of  man  may  be  advanced." 
The  university  is  a  declaration  of  the  Church's  effort  to  dis- 
charge her  responsibility  in  uniting  the  intellectual  and  spirit- 
ual natures  of  man,  by  inculcating  in  him  the  wisdom  of 
God  and  the  power  of  God. 

The  corner-stone  of  the  University  of  the  South  was  laid  at 
Sewanee.  Tenn.,  October  10.  i860.  The  patriotic  purpose  and 
the  noble  plan  for  which  it  was  to  stand  was  declared  by 
Bishop  Elliott,  when  depositing  the  memorials  in  the  corner- 
stone. Depositing  the  Bible,  he  said  :  "This  sacred  volume,  being 
the  canonical  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  is 


ELLISON  CAPERS  229 

deposited  before  and  above  all  memorials  in  this  corner-stone 
to  testify  to  the  present  generation,  and  to  all  future  genera- 
tions, that  the  University  of  the  South  recognizes  the  Word 
of  God  as  the  fountain  of  all  learning  and  as  the  only  source  of 
that  knowledge  which  maketh  wise  unto  salvation."  Depositing 
the  Prayer  Book  he  said:  "This  copy  of  the  Book  of  Com- 
mon Prayer  is  deposited  in  this  corner-stone  next  after  the 
Word  of  God,  to  testify  that  the  University  of  the  South 
believes  it  to  be  in  perfect  harmony  with  that  Word,  and  to 
exhibit  in  its  ministry,  doctrine,  and  sacraments  the  Church  of 
God  as  that  Church  was  founded  by  Christ  and  His  Apostles." 
On  depositing  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  he  said : 
"I  next  deposit  in  this  corner-stone  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  the  time-honored  bond  which  binds  together 
the  States  of  that  confederacy  to  testify  that  the  University 
of  the  South,  while  it  holds  itself  superior  to  the  State  in  all 
strictly  spiritual  matters,  acknowledges  itself  subordinate 
to  it  in  all  matters  of  government  and  law.    Esto  perpetua." 

Sewanee  has  been  heroically  loyal  to  the  sentiment  herein 
expressed. 

More  than  four  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  had  been 
raised,  the  promoters  of  the  university  had  received  every 
assurance  of  a  splendid  success,  w^hen  war  blasted  her  hopes 
and  destroyed  her  immediate  future. 

On  Thursday,  the  22nd  of  March,  1866,  the  plateau  of 
Sewanee  presented  a  markedly  different  scene  from  that  of 
October  10,  i860,  when  the  first  corner-stone  of  the  university 
was  laid  in  the  presence  of  a  vast  concourse  of  people,  prelates, 
orators,  and  statesmen.  On  this  22d  of  March  the  Rt.  Rev. 
Charles  T.  Quintard,  Bishop  of  Tennessee,  accompanied  by 
but  two  clergy  and  a  member  of  the  board  of  trustees,  selected 
a  site  and  placed  a  rude  cross  where  the  new  university  was  to 
be  built.  The  workmen  gathered  about;  the  Apostle  Creed 
was  said,  the  "Gloria  in  Excelsis"  sung,  and  Sewanee  had 
made  her  second  start  in  life.  From  thenceforward  the  history 
of  Sewanee  has  been  one  of  personal  sacrifice. 


230  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

It  would  be  an  inspiring  volume  which  contained  the 
biographies  of  the  great  and  good  men  whose  devotion  made 
Sewanee  possible  and  whose  unselfish  labors,  patriotic  spirit — 
the  "Sewanee  spirit" — have  given  her  a  place  and  an  influence 
beyond  and  out  of  proportion  to  her  material  success  and  the 
amount  of  this  world's  goods  bestowed  upon  her. 

In  addition  to  the  bishops  heretofore  mentioned,  Sewanee 
brings  to  mind  the  brilliant  Bishop  Dudley,  the  apostolic 
Tuttle,  the  chivalrous  and  devoted  Capers,  the  soldierly  Kirby 
Smith ;  Shoup,  and  Gorgas ;  and  her  historian,  the  devoted 
and  able  Fairbanks. 

Any  sketch  of  the  University  of  the  South  would  be  incom- 
plete without  a  becoming  reference  to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Telfair 
Hodgson,  soldier  and  priest,  teacher  and  philanthropist.  Dr. 
Hodgson  was  a  loyal  and  generous  friend  to  the  university. 
He  gave  liberally  to  it  of  his  means;  was  the  first  dean  of  its 
theological  department,  and  afterwards  was  vice-chancellor. 

The  school  of  the  prophets  at  Sewanee,  its  theological 
department,  bears  the  impress  of  the  gentle  and  loving  spirit 
and  scholarly  attainment  of  the  Rev.  Wm.  P.  DuBose,  who 
as  a  theologian  has  given  to  the  seminary  an  international 
reputation. 

The  "Sewanee  spirit"  is  the  logical  development  of  self- 
forgetfulness  and  self-sacrifice.  From  his  first  connection 
with  the  university,  as  its  chaplain,  the  Rev.  Thomas  F.  Gailor 
exhibited  this  spirit  in  a  marked  degree.  He  possessed  pulpit 
ability  of  the  highest  order,  and  a  most  engaging  person- 
ality. 

He  had  been  chaplain  but  a  few  years  when  he  attracted 
the  favorable  attention  of  the  Church  throughout  the  country. 
He  was  repeatedly  called  to  the  great  centers  of  population  and 
business,  and  princely  salaries  were  ofifered  him  to  become  rector 
of  wealthy  and  influential  parishes.  In  1892  he  was  elected 
Bishop  of  Georgia,  but  he  resolutely  declined  to  leave  his 
post,  hard  work  and  meager  salary,  because  it  carried  with  it 
great  opportunities  for  service  among  the  students  and  also 


ELLISOiN  CAPERS  231 

afforded  occasion  to  promote  the  interest  of  the  institution. 
In  1893  the  Rev.  Dr.  Gailor  became  Bishop  of  Tennessee,  and 
within  recent  years  was  elected  chancellor  of  the  University 
of  the  South.  Through  his  entire  ministry  and  episcopate  he 
has  given  Sewanee  his  enthusiastic  support  and  bestowed  upon 
her  his  rare  gifts  of  heart  and  mind. 

Rev.  William  A.  Guerry,  who  succeeded  Bishop  Gailor  as 
chaplain  of  Sewanee.  and  is  now  Bishop  of  South  Carolina, 
exhibited  a  similar  devotion  through  the  years  of  his  chap- 
laincy. 

It  is  of  interest  to  note  that  in  the  year  1893  Sewanee  seemed 
in  danger  of  being  South  Carolinaized — to  coin  a  temi — by 
the  number  of  South  Carolinians  officially  connected  with  her. 
In  that  year  Dr.  Ellison  Capers  was  elected  Assistant  Bishop 
of  South  Carolina,  and  became  an  ex-officio  member  of  the 
board  of  trustees.  Rev.  W.  A.  Guerry  was  elected  chaplain ; 
B.  L.  Wiggins,  vice  chancellor;  Dr.  W.  P.  DuBose  was  dean 
of  the  theological  department,  and  Professor  Hennaman  dean 
of  the  academic  department,  all  of  them  South  Carolinians. 

As  vice  chancellor  Dr.  Wiggins  soon  demonstrated  his 
executive  ability,  diplomacy,  and  statesmanship.  He  won  the 
love  and  confidence  of  the  board  of  trustees,  as  well  as  the 
student  body.  He  too  demonstrated  the  "Sewanee  spirit"  of 
self-sacrifice,  and  was  loyal  to  the  best  interest  of  the  institu- 
tion. Dr.  Wiggins  declined  many  offers  to  become  the  head 
of  larger  and  more  prosperous  institutions,  and  in  some 
instances  with  salaries  double  his  own. 

In  TQ05  the  philanthropy  of  Mr.  Andrew  Carnegie  unwittingly 
dealt  Sewanee  a  severe  blow,  which  a  less  heroic  and  loyal 
institution  could  not  have  survived.  He  created  an  endow 
ment  fund  of  ten  million  dollars,  the  interest  of  which  was  to 
pension  teachers  who  had  served  in  colleges  and  universities 
for  a  stipulated  length  of  time  and  had  met  certain  require- 
ments. This  endowment  carried  the  provision  that  teachers  in 
"denominational  institutions"  were  not  eligible  to  its  benefits. 
This  clearly  put  such  colleges  at  a  great  disadvantage,  and  the 


232  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

dampening  effect  of  the  benefaction  was  felt  in  all  such  insti- 
tutions. It  is  natural  for  men  to  look  to  the  care  and  comfort 
of  their  old  age,  and  they  would  therefore  prefer  employment 
where  they  were  assured  of  their  support  after  having  given 
the  best  years  of  their  life  to  the  cause  of  education.  This 
pension  system  gave  the  non-denominational  colleges  a  great 
advantage,  practically  attaching  a  life  endowment  to  their 
professorships.  The  result  was  inevitable.  "Denominational 
colleges"  all  over  the  country  surrendered  their  charters  and 
were  rechartered  under  the  terms  of  the  endowment.  They 
then  prepared  to  draft  the  ablest  teachers  in  the  land.  While 
the  bait  was  enticing,  it  was  also  an  effort  on  the  part  of  the 
benefactor  to  "secularize  education"  by  "freezing  out"  those 
institutions  that  stood  for  Christian  education.  Sewanee  had 
reached  a  crisis,  but  no  one  of  its  faculty  deserted  its  flag. 
And  yet  there  was  a  movement  on  foot  to  have  the  university 
rechartered,  that  she  too  might  secure  the  benefits  of  this  great 
endowment,  and  so  attract  the  ablest  and  most  accomplished 
instructors. 

The  advocates  to  "recharter"  quietly  but  adroitly  endeav- 
ored to  influence  those  in  authority,  with  the  following  repre- 
sentations :  The  theological  department  would  remain  under 
the  control  of  the  Episcopal  Church.  Under  the  new  charter 
the  election  of  the  board  of  trustees  would  be  taken  out  of 
the  diocesan  councils,  and  the  board  made  a  self -perpetuating 
body.  Thus  standing  on  the  same  plane  with  other  universities 
and  colleges,  it  would  enjoy  the  benefit  not  only  of  the  Car- 
negie Endowment,  but  of  the  General  Educational  Board  and 
such  private  philanthropy  as  is  opposed  to  church  schools. 

In  June,  1909,  Sewanee  was  confronted  by  a  grave  financial 
crisis.  In  the  midst  of  the  Commencement  exercises  that  year 
the  beloved  and  devoted  vice  chancellor.  Dr.  Lawson  B. 
Wiggins,  died  suddenly.  A  deep  gloom  settled  over  the 
university. 

The  Alumni  Association  met,  and  during  the  meeting  a 
resolution  was  offered  requesting  the  board  of  trustees  to  con- 


ELLISON  CAPERS  233 

sider  the  matter  of  changing  the  charter.  This  was  the  first 
open  move  to  unchurch  the  university.  The  arguments  put 
forward  to  support  the  resolution  were  that  the  present 
number  of  trustees,  being  over  seventy,  was  too  large  and 
unvv^ieldy  a  body.  It  was  further  urged  that  if  Sewanee  was 
not  a  church  school  it  would  receive  liberal  financial  support  as 
above  suggested.  These  resolutions  were  warmly  opposed, 
and  finally  amended  so  as  to  leave  the  existing  government  of 
Sewanee  in  statu  quo. 

This  "entering  wedge"  in  the  effort  to  change  the  charter 
of  the  university  was  productive  of  great  good,  in  that  it 
aroused  the  Church  people  throughout  the  South  to  a  sense  of 
their  responsibility  for  the  existence  of  Sewanee,  and  also 
inspired  the  trustees  to  renew  and  redouble  their  efforts  in  her 
behalf.  They  selected  a  board  of  regents,  in  whose  hands 
rest  the  affairs  of  the  university.  This  solved  the  problem  of 
the  unwieldiness  of  the  board  of  trustees.  Thenceforward 
the  "Sewanee  spirit"  began  again  to  demonstrate  its  power 
and  prove  itself  in  practical  ways.  An  endowment  commission 
was  created,  and  through  it  an  endowment  of  five  hundred 
thousand  dollars  is  being  raised.  In  the  meantime  Bishop 
Gailor  had  been  elected  chancellor  of  the  university.  With 
characteristic  enthusiasm  for  the  best  interest  of  Sewanee, 
he  entered  heartily  into  the  plan  for  endowment.  Visiting  the 
East,  he  interested  and  organized  alumni  and  friends,  and 
later,  accepting  the  appointment  to  visit  the  large  cities 
throughout  the  affiliating  dioceses  in  the  South,  he  gave  him- 
self unsparingly  to  the  work,  and  met  with  great  and  well- 
deserved  success. 

The  alumni  have  organized  all  over  the  country,  with  the 
twofold  purpose  of  raising  an  endowment  and  sending  students 
to  their  alma  mater.  The  effect  of  all  this  has  been  electrical, 
and  Sewanee  is  destined  to  become  not  only  a  great  Church 
university,  but  in  all  respects  one  of  the  greatest  educational 
institutions  in  the  land,  influencing  the  life  and  molding  the 
thought  of  the  nation.     She  has  vindicated  herself  in  main- 


234  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

taining  the  principles  and  purposes  for  which  she  was  founded. 
The  University  of  the  South  has  demonstrated  to  the  world 
the  essential  principle  of  Christianity,  that  the  more  our  ideals 
run  counter  to  self-interest  and  self-indulgence  the  more 
powerfully  they  appeal  to  men;  while  commercialized  ideals 
are  doomed  to  ultimate  failure. 


BISHOP  CAPERS 
As   Chancellor   of  the   University   of   the   South    (1904-1908) 


Opl'osite  page  235. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

BISHOP  CAPERS  BECOMES  CHANCELLOR  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF   THE   SOUTH 

Bishop  Capers'  interest  in  Sewanee  was  contemporary  with 
the  re-establishment  of  the  college.  In  his  private  journal 
under  date  of  January,  1872,  we  find  this  record:  "Christ 
Church  Rectory — Rev.  Dr.  DuBose  visited  the  parish  in  the 
interest  of  the  University  of  the  South,  addressing  the  con- 
gregation at  the  morning  service,  taking  up  a  collection  of 
$76.05." 

Again  on  December  29,  1872  :  "Bishop  Quintard  and  Gen- 
'  '  ershaw  spoke  to-day  in  the  church  in  the  interest  of  the 
rsity  of  the  South  at  Sewanee.  I  individually  obtained 
i  to  the  amount  of  $950.00." 

.  rom  this  time  on  his  interest  in  Sewanee  continued,  and 
in  June,  1904,  he  was  elected  chancellor  of  the  University  of 
the  South.  The  office  of  chancellor  is  a  position  of  educational 
and  ecclesiastical  distinction,  and  while  honorary,  yet  carries 
with  it  the  opportunity  for  great  influence  in  directing  its 
affairs  in  the  broader  and  more  churchly  purposes  of  the 
institution.  While  Bishop  Capers  was  chancellor,  the  question 
of  a  recharter  was  first  agitated.  In  his  quiet  and  tactful  way 
he  discouraged  it,  by  refusing  to  take  the  proposition  seriously, 
and  in  this  way  at  least  postponed  action.  When  the  move 
was  finally  made,  its  promoters  found  the  university's  present 
chancellor  the  ardent  and  uncompromising  champion  of  Chris- 
tian education  and  a  devoted  adherent  to  the  original  principles 
and  purposes  for  which  Sewanee  was  founded. 

The  day  before  Bishop  Capers'  election  as  chancellor,  the 

235 


236  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

writer  talked  to  his  father  over  the  long-distance  telephone, 
and  in  the  course  of  the  conversation  asked  v^hom  they  were 
going  to  elect  chancellor.  His  reply  was :  'T  do  not  know,  but 
it  should  be  by  all  means  either  Gailor  or  Sessums.  Either 
would  be  an  ornament  to  the  office,  while  Gailor's  long  asso- 
ciation with  the  university  makes  him,  to  my  mind,  pre- 
eminently fitted  to  be  our  chancellor."  If  there  was  one  man 
at  Sewanee  who  did  not  expect  to  be  elected  to  that  office, 
that  man  was  the  Bishop  of  South  Carolina. 

In  his  tribute  to  Mrs.  Capers,  Bishop  Guerry  relates  this 
characteristic  anecdote  of  Bishop  Capers :  "Whenever  any 
new  honor  or  promotion  came  to  him,  he  never  tired  of  saying 
he  owed  it  all  to  his  devoted  wife.  This  was  so  characteristic 
of  him  that  I  hope  I  may  be  pardoned  here  for  recalling  a 
beautiful  tribute  he  paid  Mrs.  Capers  when  he  was  elected 
chancellor  of  the  University  of  the  South.  'Gentlemen  of  the 
Board  of  Trustees,'  he  said,  in  accepting  his  election,  'this  is 
the  greatest  honor  that  has  come  to  me  save  one,'  and  while 
we  all  wondered  what  that  greatest  honor  could  be,  he  added : 
'And  that  was  the  day  my  wife  agreed  to  accept  me  as  her 
husband.'  This  graceful  and  gallant  speech  was  far  from 
being  merely  a  well  turned  compliment— it  expressed  the 
unique  and  exalted  place  his  wife  always  filled  in  his  heart  and 
in  his  life." 

In  writing  of  the  election  of  Bishop  Capers  as  chancellor  of 
the  University  of  the  South,  the  Bishop  of  Mississippi,  the 
Rt.  Rev.  Theodore  Bratton,  D.  D.,  who  nominated  him,  said: 

"I  do  not  claim  any  credit  as  a  moving  spirit  in  Bishop 
Capers'  election  as  chancellor  of  the  University  of  the  South, 
for  the  sentiment  of  the  board  of  trustees  was  too  nearly  unan- 
imous to  leave  room  for  any  serious  advocacy  of  him  for  the 
honorable  post.  I  seem,  however,  to  have  first  instinctively 
turned  to  him  as  the  fit  successor  of  Bishop  Dudley. 

"Bishop  Dudley  was  by  nature,  training,  and  instinct  a 
splendid  leader.  A  gentleman  of  the  old  South  who,  with 
Bishop   Capers    and   others    of    like    commanding    character. 


ELLISON  CAPERS  211 

was  yet  a  maker  of  the  new  South.  A  churchman  true  and 
tried  and  great,  whose  influence  was  always  powerful,  and 
whose  leadership  was  always  unifying,  a  scholar  whose  appre- 
ciation of  sound  learning  was  always  coupled  with  the  spirit  of 
progressiveness.  Bishop  Dudley  was  an  ideal  head  of  our  Chris- 
tian university.  And  Bishop  Capers  is  the  fittest  successor 
of  his  slightly  older  friend  that  could  be  found  in  the  whole 
of  America.  He  too  is  a  gentleman  of  the  Old  South,  a 
soldier  of  stainless  record,  a  bishop  of  saintly  character  and 
wisdom,  a  leader  of  pre-eminent  ability  in  Church  and  state, 
in  Avar  and  peace ;  a  cultured  gentleman,  schooled  in  the 
academy  of  the  soldier  and  educated  in  the  great  university 
of  humanity  which  he  loves  with  all  the  depth  of  a  great 
and  big  heart  and  mind.  Surely  there  is  no  one  else,  in  all 
the  land,  so  well  equipped  as  he  to  illustrate  all  that  is  best 
in  the  culture  of  the  past,  or  to  develop  in  the  present  and  for 
the  future  the  highest  and  truest  standard  of  Christian  and 
civil  manhood. 

"The  only  resistance  to  his  speedy  and  practically  unanimous 
election  came  from  himself.  After  Bishop  Weed  and  I  had 
presented  his  name.  Bishop  Capers,  who  was  in  the 
chair,  having  been  temporarily  elected  to  that  honor,  arose 
and  vigorously  protested  against  the  election  of  one  who  had 
been  educated  in  a  military  academy  and  who,  though  not 
unacquainted  with  the  classics,  had  yet  never  regarded  himself 
as  a  scholar,  and  whose  years  of  life  had  been  filled  with  the 
practical  duties  of  an  exacting  calling.  Thus  the  debate  was 
unexpectedly  turned  against  the  nominee,  who  persistently 
declined  to  be  elected  until  a  practically  unanimous  election 
overv^^helmed  him  into  an  unwilling  but  grateful  assent. 

"The  wonderful  university  of  human  experience  during  the 
period  of  controversy  and  debate  and  war  in  which  the  Bishop's 
youth  was  lived,  provided  a  liberal  education  for  every  man 
of  culture  and  student  tastes.  I  will  not  institute  comparisons 
of  such  an  experience  with  the  curricula  of  university  life,  but 
I  do  insist  upon  the  inestimable  value  and  great  educative 


238  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

power  of  such  an  era  as  that  which  developed  Bishop  Capers' 
young  manhood.  Nor  is  comparison  needful  or  appropriate, 
for  while  the  Citadel  Academy  was  not  a  university,  it  was 
in  the  old  days  as  much  a  college  as  a  military  training  school, 
and  the  young  student  had  therefore  more  than  usual  advan- 
tages for  broad  culture  in  the  school  of  his  youth. 

"But  certain  it  is,  that  the  university  of  human  experience, 
as  I  have  called  it,  was  especially  congenial  to  the  Bishop's 
nature,  so  singularly  and  intelligently  responsive  to  the  activ- 
ities of  the  master  minds  who  guided  the  destinies  of  our 
people. 

'Tt  was  not  unnatural  or  surprising  that  as  the  great  con- 
flict proceeded  he  took  his  rightful  place  in  the  ranks  of  the 
conspicuous  leaders  in  the  days  of  struggle  and  the  hours  of 
distressful  danger  And  after  the  conflict  his  place  had  already 
been  made  among  the  great  personalities  who  stood  as  bul- 
warks against  adversity,  as  beacons  to  guide  the  bewildered,  as 
strong  conservers  of  that  self-control  and  self-respect  which 
defeat  only  purifies  and  refines  in  the  truly  great,  and  which 
are  so  essential  to  best  and  highest  usefulness  to  mankind. 

"With  such  combined  excellencies  and  endowments,  it  was 
natural  that  the  trustees  of  the  University  of  the  South 
should  turn  to  Bishop  Capers  as  their  rightful  leader  and  the 
university's  chancellor.  The  Bishop  is  in  the  best  sense  singu- 
larly youthful.  Indeed,  the  highest  and  purest  wisdom  is 
always  so.  And  no  chancellor  could  be  more  heartily  in  sym- 
pathy than  he  with  every  phase  of  university  life,  or  more 
thoroughly  in  accord  with  the  varied  avenues  of  university 
activity,  or  more  strongly  entrenched  in  the  heart  of  university 
citizens. 

"There  is  yet  another  side  of  life  at  the  University  of  the 
South  which  constituted  quite  as  powerful  a  reason  for  the 
Bishop's  call  to  its  head.  Sewanee  is  not  merely  the  seat  of  a 
great  university,  it  is  the  mecca  of  an  ecclesiastical  sentiment 
and  conviction  and  activity  which  is  hallowed  by  a  com- 
munion of  sainted  dead  and  living,  sanctified  by  sacrifice  alto- 


ELLISON  CAPERS  239 

gether  unique,  and  consecrated  afresh  by  devotion  imperish- 
able. In  very  truth  Sewanee  is  a  province  of  the  Church  free 
from  provinciaHsm  in  its  common  and  unhallowed  sense.  As 
such  the  Church  in  the  Southland  has  looked  to  her  annual 
gathering  of  bishops  for  light  and  guidance  as  these,  from 
time  to  time,  have  been  sorely  needed  amid  the  perplexing 
problems  with  which  she  has  had  to  deal.  Segregated  as  the 
Church  leaders  and  Church  folk  are  in  this  vast,  scarce  half- 
occupied  field,  the  opportunity  for  conference  was,  until  re- 
cently, confined  to  this  one  annual  gathering  in  the  university 
city  of  Church  in  the  South.  How  vastly  important  it  is, 
therefore,  to  select  as  the  head  of  our  province-life  one  whose 
depth  and  breadth  and  height  of  soul  and  mind,  whose  noble 
humility  of  character,  whose  endowment  of  sympathy  and 
courtesy,  would  crown  the  head  with  a  scepter  which  his 
fellows  would  place  with  loving  and  grateful  recognition  of 
its  worthiness.  And  right  w^orthily  will  Bishop  Capers  wear 
it  with  royal  humility  and  humble  pride — the  humility  which 
pays  tribute  to  the  cause  for  which  it  stands,  the  pride  which 
is  joy  in  its  service." 

An  amusing  anecdote  is  related  in  connection  with  this  occa- 
sion. The  German  ambassador  Baron  Speck  Von  Sternsburg 
was  to  receive  a  degree  from  the  university.  He  and  other 
dignitaries  had  arrived  from  Washington.  Bishop  Capers  had 
an  appointment  to  marry  his  son,  who  was  at  the  time  rector 
of  St.  Peter's  Church,  Columbia,  Tenn.  Unexpectedly  to 
himself,  elected  chancellor  of  the  university,  it  was  impera- 
tive that  he  should  be  present  on  the  30th  inst.  to  confer  the 
degrees.  The  marriage  was  appointed  for  the  night  of  the 
29th.  The  regular  railroad  connections  made  it  impossible  for 
Bishop  Capers  to  perform  the  marriage  and  return  to  Sewanee 
in  time  to  preside  as  chancellor.  Dr.  Wiggins,  being  rather 
adroit  in  the  management  of  all  affairs,  began  to  maneuver 
to  have  some  one  of  the  Nashville  clergy  go  to  Columbia  and 
perform  the  marriage  ceremony.  He  made  his  proposition 
over  the  phone.     To  this  the  prospective  groom  strenuously 


240  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

objected,  and  requested  a  telephone  interview  with  his  father. 
Through  various  maneuvers  and  by  proposing  plans  to  substi- 
tute the  bishop,  the  vice  chancellor  managed  to  keep  father 
and  son  separated  for  the  better  part  of  the  day.  Finally  the 
crisis  was  reached,  and  a  long  telegram  was  sent  to  Bishop 
Capers,  setting  forth  the  dilemma  in  which  his  new  dignity  and 
imperative  duties  at  Sewanee  was  about  to  place  the  wedding 
party.  He  answered  immediately  that  he  knew  nothing  of 
plans  to  prevent  his  fulfilling  his  engagement  on  the  night  of 
the  29th,  and  that  if  he  could  not  find  a  way  to  perform  the 
marriage  and  confer  the  degree  upon  the  German  ambassador, 
someone  else  would  have  to  perform  the  latter  office.  He  could 
be  relied  upon  to  be  "on  hand"  for  the  wedding.  Shortly 
thereafter  the  vice  chancellor  wired  he  had  arranged  for  an 
automobile  to  be  sent  out  from  Nashville  to  take  the  bishop 
back  to  that  point  after  the  ceremony,  and  in  time  for  him  to 
catch  the  midnight  train  for  Sewanee. 

Rejecting  upon  this  incident,  we  find  an  interesting  illus- 
tration of  the  wonderful  development  of  the  automobile  indus- 
try within  the  past  eight  years.  In  1904  there  was  but  one 
automobile  in  Columbia;  there  are  to-day  more  than  a  hun- 
dred, many  of  them  of  the  finest  make.  This  trip  was  made 
in  two  hours  and  a  half.  Within  the  last  few  months  the 
schedule  from  Columbia  to  Nashville  by  motor  car  has  been 
brought  down  to  one  hour  and  fifteen  minutes.  The  drive 
between  these  two  cities  is  now  most  usual  and  of  daily 
occurrence.  The  following  quoted  from  an  interesting  letter 
graphically  describes  the  novelty  of  the  enterprise  at  that 
time.  Writing  to  his  mother  of  the  wedding,  Hon.  John  G. 
Capers  says  : 

"Father  and  I  did  not  get  any  of  the  wedding  supper,  as  he 
had  to  leave  at  half  past  ten  o'clock  for  Nashville,  forty-five 
miles  distant,  by  automobile,  so  that  father  could  return  to 
Sewanee  in  time  to  confer  a  degree  upon  the  German  ambas- 
sador.    ...     I  had  not  intended  to  go  until  next  day,  but 


ELLISON  CAPERS  241 

of  course  I  had  no  idea  of  letting  father  take  that  long  and 
unusual  ride  by  himself  except  of  course  for  the  faithful  little 
fellow  who  sat  in  front  and  managed  the  wheel  that  carried  us 
safely  over  the  pike,  but  who  could  have,  by  the  slightest  mis- 
directed twist,  sent  us  into  eternity.  For  the  first  ten  miles 
father  took  great  pleasure  in  borrowing  that  expressive  expres- 
sion of  yours,  'Oh,  good  lawdy !'  and  we  were  both  glad  indeed 
that  you  were  not  there,  but  that  you  could  be  with  us  on 
that  particular  ride  by  proxy.  Up  that  pike  road  we  sped, 
frequently  at  a  rate  of  twenty-five  miles  an  hour.  Fortunately 
the  night  was  clear,  the  moon  beautiful,  and  after  we  had 
become  accustomed  to  the  peculiar  gait  of  our  steed  we  lit  our 
cigars  and  adjusted  ourselves  to  conditions  more  comfortable. 
The  pike  road  runs  right  through  the  field  of  the  battle  of 
Franklin,  and  it  was  a  great  joy  and  privilege  to  me  to  have 
father  recite  how  I  now  was  actually  with  him  on  the  very 
road  he  had  marched  up  forty  years  before.  He  showed  me 
the  house  into  which  he  was  taken  when  wounded,  and  within 
fifty  feet  of  where  he  fell  when  he  was  shot  at  Franklin.  It 
was  of  course  a  strenuous  ride,  but  one  of  intense  interest,  and 
certainly  surpassed  anything  that  either  father  or  I  had  ever 
experienced. 

"We  reached  Nashville  shortly  after  one  o'clock,  having 
made  the  trip  in  about  two  hours  and  a  half." 

Thus  the  Rt.  Rev.  Chancellor  reached  the  University  in 
time  for  the  commencement  exercises  on  Thursday,  and  con- 
ferred the  honorary  degree  of  D.  C.  L.  upon  the  German 
ambassador,  in  recognition  of  which  the  Emperor  of  Germany 
sent  a  long  and  cordial  cable  message  to  the  authorities  of  the 
university,  which  was  duly  deposited  in  the  archives. 

These  annual  visits  of  Bishop  Capers  to  Sewanee,  through 
the  fifteen  years  of  his  service  as  bishop  and  chancellor,  were 
among  the  happiest  experiences  of  his  life.  He  always  spoke 
of  them  with  enthusiasm,  and  not  even  in  his  own  beloved 
South  Carolina  did  he  receive  more  hearty  and  spontaneous 


242  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

tributes  of  affection  and  honor  than  those  that  were  lavished 
upon  him  by  the  students  and  people  of  Sewanee. 

Bishop  Capers,*  of  South  Carolina,  has  been  unanimously 
elected  chancellor  of  the  University  of  the  South.  The  action 
was  foreshadowed  by  his  choice  as  temporary  chairman  of 
the  board  of  trustees,  when  it  assembled  for  its  annual  ses- 
sion at  Sewanee.  To  all  who  know  the  Bishop  of  South 
Carolina  the  choice  will  seem  a  natural  and  an  admirable  one. 
No  one  represents  better  than  he  the  traditions  and  amenities 
of  academic  culture.  To  no  one  could  the  oversight  of  that 
institution,  in  which  the  heart  of  the  Church  in  the  South 
is  so  bound  up,  alike  through  its  hopes  and  its  sacrifices,  be 
committed  with  greater  confidence.  But  gratitude  for  the 
services  of  the  late  Bishop  Dudley  was  not  forgotten  in  re- 
joicing over  the  auspicious  choice  of  his  successor.  At  a 
special  memorial  service  on  June  25  in  St.  Augustine's  Chapel, 
three  notable  addresses  were  made  in  commemoration  of  his 
fruitful  labors.  Bishop  Tuttle  spoke  in  behalf  of  the  board 
of  trustees,  Bishop  Peterkin  for  the  whole  American  Church, 
Dr.  DuBose,  dean  of  the  theological  school,  for  the  faculty 
of  the  university.  The  impression  produced  was  deep  and 
promises  to  be  lasting. 

*The   CJiurchman,   July  2,    1904. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

BISHOP  capers'  churchmanship 

Some  years  ago  an  enterprising  newspaper  correspondent  in- 
terviewed several  of  the  bishops  of  the  Episcopal  Church 
whose  families  had  been  previously  identified  with  other 
churches,  and  put  this  question  to  them :  "What  influenced 
you  to  become  an  Episcopalian?"  One  of  the  most  eminent 
of  our  bishops  replied :  "Because  my  father's  farm  was  five 
miles  nearer  the  Episcopal  church  than  it  was  to  the  Methodist, 
to  which  our  family  belonged." 

With  Ellison  Capers,  the  son  of  a  Methodist  bishop,  there 
were  at  work  stronger  and  deeper  influences  than  the  conveni- 
ence of  places  of  worship  to  make  him  a  Churchman.  His 
father  died  when  he  was  but  eighteen  years  of  age,  and  in 
his  death  a  commanding  influence  was  withdrawn.  That  the 
son  would  have  leaned  to  the  ministry  of  his  father's  Church 
is  a  logical  presumption.  But  reaching  manhood,  he  was 
free  to  weigh  without  prejudice  or  influence  the  claims  of 
the  Church.  The  Church  of  England,  the  Episcopal  Church 
of  the  young  American  republic,  was  Ellison  Capers'  ancestral 
church.  This  in  itself  attracted  him  to  her;  while  he  tells 
us,  "In  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer  I  found  my  ideal  of 
worship."  Its  deeply  spiritual  and  reverent  service  appealed 
to  him  and  supplied  the  demands  of  his  religious  nature.  He 
was  a  great  admirer  of  the  English  as  a  nation,  and  had  an 
adequate  appreciation  of  what  the  Church  of  England  had 
contributed  toward  the  promotion  of  Christian  civilization, 
conspicuously  in  establishing  Christianity  in  America. 

As  we  have  seen  elsewhere  in  this  volume,  Bishop  Caper.s 

m 


244  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

believed  his  ancestors  to  have  been  English,  and  so  this  Church 
made  a  strong  appeal  to  his  patriotism  as  well  as  to  his  spiritual 
nature,  and  inspired  him  to  investigate  her  claims. 

After  his  graduation  from  the  Citadel,  Mr.  Capers  married 
Miss  Charlotte  Palmer,  who  was  a  devoted  member  of  the 
Episcopal  Church,  and  whose  ancestors,  like  his  own,  had 
belonged  to  the  Episcopal  Church  of  Colonial  days.  His 
marriage  undoubtedly  tended  to  quicken  his  interest  in  the 
Church  and  strengthen  his  desire  to  enter  her  fold. 

While  a  professor  at  the  Citadel,  Lieutenant  Capers'  in- 
clination was  for  the  study  of  law,  and  he  began  reading  in 
the  office  of  Hayne  &  Miles.  But  his  studies  v/ere  interrupted 
by  the  War.  During  the  War  the  question  of  entering  the 
ministry  constantly  occupied  his  thoughts.  He  himself  re- 
ferred to  this  period  as  "years  of  feeling,  impulse,  and  resolu- 
tion, which  left  their  indelible  mark  and  influence  in  direct- 
ing heart  and  brain.  .  .  .  To  these  im.pressions  I  owe  the 
final  convictions  and  resolutions  which  ultimately  brought 
me  into  the  ministry  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church." 

The  first  indication  we  have  of  a  developing  system  of 
doctrine  and  practice  in  the  work  of  his  ministry  is  given 
in  the  following  memorandum  made  in  the  spring  of  1866: 

"The  thing  most  essential  to  a  minister's  usefulness  is  a 
thorough  and  adequate  acquaintance  with  the  Scriptures,  not 
in  isolated  pages,  but  as  a  connected  whole,  embodying  the 
plan  of  salvation ;  the  sublime  and  harmonious  scheme  of 
redemption  through  Christ.  'Systematic  divinity'  must  build 
itself  upon  and  grow  out  of  the  careful  and  prayerful  study 
of  God's  Word.  The  only  reliable  and  efficient  teacher  is 
the  Holy  Ghost. 

"Without  the  enlightening  grace  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  sought 
in  humble  persevering  prayer,  we  shall  search  the  Scriptures  to 
little  account.  It  is  He  who  is  promised,  to  'take  of  the  things  of 
Christ  and  show  them  unto  us,'  and  to  'guide  us  into  all  truth.' 
We  should  realize  deeply  our  ignorance  and  blindness,  and 


ELLISON  CAPERS  245 

the  great  danger  of  being  led  into  error.  Let  Christ  be  the 
center  of  our  system.  Where  His  person  is  clearly  recognized, 
and  His  glory  is  poured  around,  we  cannot  be  long  in  the 
dark.  Remember  that  the  work  of  the  Gospel  ministry  is  to 
testify  of  Christ.  Nothing  is  of  real  concern  to  a  minister 
or  of  true  value  in  his  teaching  and  preaching  which  has 
not  direct  relations  to  the  atonement  and  death  of  the  sinner's 
substitute.  All  preaching  of  anything  save  'Jesus  Christ 
and  Him  crucified'  is  solemn  tritling.  And  what  insight  into 
God's  word  is  needed  to  enable  us  to  receive  for  our  own 
souls,  and  to  set  forth  for  the  souls  of  others,  the  gospel  of 
free  grace.  Have  a  clear  view  of  the  scope  and  general  ob- 
ject of  each  book  of  the  Bible,  weigh  its  line  of  argument, 
and  take  in  a  conception  of  the  whole,  before  you  descend 
to  minute  criticism.  Do  not  follow  human  commentations 
blindly;  with  all  their  learning  and  excellence  they  are  all 
weak  and  fallible  creatures.  Lean  only  upon  the  Lord  and 
seek  his  wisdom.  .  ,  . 

"it  is  a  great  advantage  that  our  Church  possesses  in  the 
harmonious  condensation  of  Scripture  truth  in  the  Prayer 
Book;  the  confession  of  the  Reformation  repeating  in  solemn 
tones  the  utterances  of  the  first  ages  of  faith.  The  great 
spiritual  truth  of  the  Gospel  embodied  here  in  acts  of  de- 
votion fix  themselves  in  the  believer's  heart,  and  there  the 
arrangement  of  the  Christian  year,  bringing  up  in  successive 
review  the  facts  of  Christ's  life,  gives  us  the  grasp  of  a 
historic  religion." 

In  the  matter  of  defining  one's  churchmanship  the  point 
of  view  from  which  the  churchman  is  regarded  has  to  be 
taken  into  account.  According  to  an  eminent  authority,  "a 
churchman  is  a  member  of  a  national  Church,  or  one  claim- 
ing exceptional  dignity  and  authority."  Under  this  defini- 
tion one  might  be  a  loyal  churchman  and  yet  place  the  emphasis 
of  teaching  and  preaching  upon  some  special  phase  of  Church 
life  and  doctrine. 


246  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

The  growth  and  development  of  the  Church  and  the  chang- 
ing conditions  under  which  she  has  had  to  work  have  given 
occasion  for  the  development  of  partisan  spirit,  which 
crystallized  into  definite  schools  of  thought  within  the  Church. 

American  churchmanship  cannot  be  contemplated  without 
reference  to  the  spiritual  and  intellectual  awakening  through- 
out England  during  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  and  the 
early  part  of  the  nineteenth  centuries. 

Eighteenth  century  Deism  left  "a  mechanical  universe  and 
an  absentee  God."  Spiritual  deadness  followed.  The  Church 
of  England  was  called  out  of  its  religious  torpor  by  the  Metho- 
dist socie'ties  of  Wesley  and  Whitefield.  In  that  these  leaders 
stressed  "the  witness  of  the  inner  life"  as  the  essential  element 
in  religious  experience,  their  teaching  was  subjective.  Having 
no  bearing  on  the  objective  element  in  religion  and  without 
regard  to  the  institutional  character  of  the  Church  and  the 
corporate  nature  of  Christianity,  Methodism  was  necessarily 
incomplete. 

"Those  of  the  clergy  and  laity  in  the  Church  of  England 
who  did  not  follow  the  Wesleys  out  of  the  Church  into  the 
new  organization,  but  shared  the  general  spiritual  views  of 
the  Methodist,  called  themselves  Evangelicals.  By  their  teach- 
ing and  work  they  gave  a  warmer  tone  to  the  life  of  the 
Church,  and  infused  a  more  personal  element  into  the  re- 
ligious experience  of  its  members.  To  a  limited  extent  they 
co-operated  with  the  denominational  churches  in  Bible,  tract, 
and  temperance  societies."  In  this  way  they  "lengthened  the 
cords"  of  the  Church,  if  they  did  not  "strengthen  her  stakes." 

The  Oxford  Movement  also  quickened  the  spiritual  life 
of  the  Church.  But  its  efforts  were  directed  through  dif- 
ferent channels.  In  1833  Keble,  Newman,  and  others  sought 
to  infuse  new  life  into  the  Church  and  arouse  its  members 
to  a  sense  of  their  privileges  and  opportunities.  Their  appeal 
was  directed  primarily  to  the  intellect  and  the  will.  Their 
declaration  was  that  there  was  an  institution  "more  permanent 
and  more  positive  than  the  conflicting  sects  and  denomina- 


ELLISON  CAPERS  247 

tions.  An  institution  of  apostolic  lineage,  which  had  in  the 
past  fostered  and  ruled  the  religious  life  of  men,  and  should 
continue  to  exercise  its  prerogative."  They  therefore  appealed 
to  the  authority  of  the  historic  Catholic  Church.  They  em- 
phasized the  corporate,  rather  than  the  individual  life  of 
Christianity.  The  Church  and  her  sacraments.  .  .  .  The 
sacraments  as  "the  extension  of  the  incarnation."  The 
legitimacy  of  orders  and  the  valid  administration  of  the 
sacraments  were  exalted  as  of  primary  importance. 

The  teaching  of  the  Evangelical  as  well  as  that  of  the 
Oxford  Movement  found  a  ready  and  sympathetic  response 
in  the  Episcopal  Church  in  America. 

Adherents  of  the  Oxford  Movement  were  High  Churchmen. 
The  Evangelicals  kept  the  parent  name.  An  extreme  party 
within  the  school  of  Evangelicals  were  Low  Churchmen. 

An  eminent  authority  has  thus  summarized  the  distinctions 
between  the  two:  "The  High  Churchman  maintained  there 
is  a  corporate  as  well  as  an  individual  Christian  life;  a 
union  with  the  body  of  Christ  as  well  as  with  Christ  the 
head ;  that  relation  to  the  Church  is  a  duty  as  well  as  a  choice ; 
the  Church  is  a  divine  revelation  and  a  positive  institution : 
her  orders  alone  are  legitimate  and  her  sacraments  'duly  and 
rightly'  administered." 

"The  Evangelical  entered  a  protest  against  formal  worship, 
endeavored  to  spiritualize  it.  and  originated  and  advocated 
the  'volunteer  principle'  of  service  which  to-day  manifests 
itself  in  every  part  of  the  Church's  work.  The  Evangelical 
laid  great  stress  upon  the  individual  reception  of  grace;  the 
High  Churchman  on  the  institutional  demonstration  of  grace. 
The  watchword  of  the  one  was  experience ;  that  of  the  other, 
authority.  The  Evangelical  none  the  less  believed  in  the 
principle  of  the  episcopacy.  He  regarded  the  sacrament  as 
a  means  of  grace  therein  offered  and  conveyed,  but  he  em- 
phasized the  element  of  faith  in  the  recipient  as  an  essential 
condition  of  benefit  to  the  same.  The  High  Churchman's  at- 
titude tended  to  ecclesiastical  isolation;  he  was  in  the  com- 


24.8  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

miinity,  but  not  of  it.  The  Evangelical  preferred  the  word 
presbyter  to  priest,  and  declared  that  that  was  the  Prayer 
Book  use  of  it,  as  it  was  not  applied  in  the  Scriptures  as  a 
Christian  ministry.  The  High  Churchman  believed  in  baptis- 
mal regeneration.  The  Evangelical  attempted  to  harmonize  the 
declarations  of  the  sacrament  as  set  forth  in  the  Prayer  Book 
with  a  number  of  theories.  Finally  both  High  Churchmen  and 
Evangelicals  accepted  the  declaration  which  the  House  of 
Bishops  made  in  1871,  wherein  it  was  set  forth,  'The  act  does 
not  involve  a  moral  change  as  a  witness  of  God's  gift,  but  not 
to  the  active  reception  of  it  by  the  baptized.'  Thenceforth 
regeneration  became  identified  with  divine  endowment,  and 
not  necessarily  an  appropriation  of  it.  Baptism  was  made 
witness  to  an  objective  fact  and  not  a  subjective  experi- 
ence." 

Up  to  this  point  there  was  little  in  the  conduct  of  the 
services  to  denote  to  which  school  of  thought  the  officiating 
minister  belonged,  and  up  to  this  point  an  Evangelical  High 
Churchman  was  possible. 

With  the  advance  and  development — within  the  Church — 
of  the  doctrine  of  the  "eucharistic  sacrifice"  a  ritual  was 
logically  evolved  by  which  to  observe  the  "sacrifice."  Here 
the  Ritualists  appear  as  a  party  in  the  Church.  While  in 
the  popular  mind  the  Ritualist  is  regarded  as  a  High  Church- 
man, it  by  no  means  follows  that  the  High  Churchman  is  a 
Ritualist. 

Accepting  the  foregoing  definitions  of  Church  parties.  Bishop 
Capers  may  be  regarded  as  an  Evangelical  High  Church- 
man. He  claimed  for  the  Church  "exceptional  dignity  and 
authority."  He  believed  in  the  apostolic  origin  of  the  epis- 
copacy. He  preached  the  historic  continuity  of  the  Church's 
ministry  back  to  the  apostles.  He  accepted  the  declaration  of 
the  House  of  Bishops  in  1871,  and  identified  regeneration 
with  divine  endowment.  To  a  certain  extent  he  fraternized 
and  co-operated  with  the  work  of  other  Churches  and  regarded 
their  ministry  with  great  respect  and  admiration.      He  held 


ELLISON  CAPERS  249 

their  orders  to  be  valid,  but  irregular.  He  opposed  the  "open 
pulpit,"  but  welcomed  the  latitude  given  under  Canon  19. 
During  his  episcopate  three  of  his  convention  addresses  were 
devoted  to  impressing  upon  his  clergy  the  necessity  of  con- 
ducting their  services  in  accordance  with  the  rubrics  and 
directions  of  the  Prayer  Book  without  presuming  to  add 
thereto  or  take  therefrom. 

He  himself  was  at  all  times  in  the  exercise  of  his  ministry 
and  episcopate  a  consistent  "Prayer  Book  Churchman."  The 
following  from  the  Bishop's  council  address  of  1901  indicates 
his  reverent  and  loyal  championship  of  the  rubrical  directions 
of  the  Prayer  Book: 

"I  wish  now,  dear  brethern,  to  call  attention  to  a  subject 
upon  which  I  have  been  consulted  by  several  of  the  clergy 
during  the  past  year,  and  upon  which  I  wish  to  deliver  this 
my  unqualified  judgement: 

"I  have  been  several  times  asked  if  it  was  rubrical  to  omit 
Morning  Prayer  on  Sunday  when  the  Holy  Communion  was 
to  be  administered. 

"Again :  If  it  is  rubrical  to  omit  Morning  Prayer  on  Ash 
Wednesday,  and  substitute  the  Litany  and  the  Penitential 
Office. 

"And  again :  If  it  is  admissible  to  omit  the  Collect,  Epistle, 
and  Gospel  for  the  day  (on  Sunday  when  they  have  been  said 
at  an  early  Communion). 

"My  answer,  dear  brethren,  is  that  none  of  these  practices 
is  admissible  under  our  rubrical  law.  The  mind  of  the  Church 
respecting  the  service  on  Sunday  is  expressed  in  the  rubric, 
which  provides  for  a  shortened  form  of  Morning  Prayer 
when  the  Communion  is  immediately  to  follow.  It  is  un- 
rubrical,  in  my  j  udgement,  to  omit  Morning  Prayer  on  Sunday 
at  the  usual  hour  for  Divine  service  when  the  Communion 
is  to  follow.  The  form  of  shortened  prayer  provided  for  by 
the  rubric  is  the  authorized  service  of  the  Church,  and  to 
omit  Morning  Prayer  at  such  a  time,  and  to  have  only  the 


250  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

Communion  office  and  the  sermons,  is  to  deprive  the  congre- 
gation of  the  full  service  of  edification  and  w^orship  which 
the  Church  has  provided. 

"To  substitute  the  Litany  and  the  Penitential  Office  for 
the  Ash  Wednesday  service  is  equally  inadmissible,  and  does 
not  express  the  worship  and  mind  of  the  Church  as  set  forth 
in  the  regular  Ash  Wednesday  service.  So,  too,  it  is  my 
judgment,  that  the  omission  of  the  Collect,  Epistle,  and 
Gospel  for  the  day,  even  though  they  have  been  previously 
said  at  an  early  Communion,  is  equally  inadmissible. 

"I  have  been  told  that  in  one  case  the  Ten  Commandments 
are  rarely  heard  on  a  Sunday  morning,  as  they  are  invariably 
read  at  the  early  Communion,  when  there  are  only  a  few 
persons  present. 

"By  such  a  practice  as  this  the  great  body  of  the  congrega- 
tion does  not  hear  from  the  sanctuary  the  ordained  law  of 
God  proclaimed  as  it  should  be.  As  you  know,  the  rubric 
provides  that  the  Commandments  must  be  said  once  on  a 
Sunday,  and  my  judgment  is  that  they  ought  not  to  be 
said  more  than  once  a  month  at  an  early  Communion;  and 
when  so  said,  I  think  it  would  be  proper  on  that  Sunday,  if 
it  is  deemed  advisable,  to  omit  them  at  the  morning  hour  and 
to  say  instead  thereof  the  Summary  of  the  Law. 

"I  feel  assured,  dear  brethren,  that  these  remarks  from 
your  Bishop  will  be  duly  considered  by  his  brethren  of  the 
clergy." 

The  following  excerpt  from  a  council  address  will  demon- 
strate the  loyalty  of  Bishop  Capers  to  the  traditions  of  the 
Church  and  his  views  in  reference  to  the  change  of  the  name 
of  the  Church: 

I  now  come  to  what  I  deem  the  most  important,  and  the 
most  serious,  matter  which  claims  the  attention  of  our  Council, 
and  is  just  now  claiming  the  consideration  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States.    I  refer  to  the  proposi- 


ELLISON  CAPERS  251 

tion  which  one  of  our  sister  dioceses  has  formally  submitted 
to  the  General  Convention,  to  change  the  name  of  the  Church 
from  her  time-honored,  historic  title,  "The  Protestant  Episco- 
pal Church  in  the  United  States  of  America,"  to  "The  Ameri- 
can Catholic  Church  in  the  United  States." 

The  proposition  was  submitted  in  the  House  of  Bishops 
on  the  second  day  of  the  session  of  the  General  Convention 
of  1901,  in  the  form  of  a  memorial  from  the  Council  of 
Milwaukee,  praying  for  relief  from  the  name  of  the  Church, 
and  citing  sundry  and  numerous  reasons  for  its  prayer.  The 
memorial  was  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Memorials  and 
Petitions,  and  that  committee,  through  its  chairman,  the 
Bishop  of  Pittsburgh,  reported  on  the  seventh  day  the  fol- 
lowing resolutions,  to  wit :  that  the  memorial  from  the 
diocese  of  Milwaukee  be  printed  in  the  Journal  of  this  ses- 
sion of  this  House.  That  a  joint  committee  be  appointed, 
consisting  of  five  bishops,  five  presbyters,  and  five  laymen,  to 
take  the  whole  subject  of  a  change  of  name  of  this  Church 
into  consideration,  to  ascertain,  as  far  as  possible,  the  mind 
of  Church  people  concerning  it,  and  to  make  a  report  at 
the  next  General  Convention,  with  such  suggestions  as  may 
commend  themselves  to  their  judgment. 

These  resolutions  were  concurred  in  by  the  House  of 
Deputies  and  the  joint  committee  duly  appointed. 

This  joint  committee  has  sent  me  the  following  resolu- 
tions : 

"Resolved,  That  the  Secretary  be  directed  to  communicate 
to  the  secretary  of  each  diocese  and  missionary  district  a 
copy  of  the  resolution  under  which  this  committee  is  acting, 
coupled  with  the  statement  that  in  pursuance  of  the  direction 
contained  in  said  resolution,  to  endeavor  to  ascertain,  as 
far  as  possible,  the  mind  of  Church  people  in  general  con- 
cerning the  subject  of  a  proposed  change  of  name — this  com- 
mittee, before  making  any  recommendation  to  the  General 
Convention,  asks  that,  at  the  next  meeting  of  the  conven- 
tion or  convocation  of  each  diocese  or  missionary  district, 


252  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

said  convention  or  convocation  be  requested  to  inform  this 
committee  whether  it  does  or  does  not  desire  that  the  name 
of  The  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States 
of  America  shall  be  changed  at  this  time,  and  if  it  does  so 
desire,  what  name  it  wishes  substituted  therefor. 

''Resolved,  That  each  diocese  or  convocation  secretary  be 
requested  to  communicate  to  the  secretary  of  this  committee, 
prior  to  October  i,  1903,  any  action  of  his  convention  or  con- 
vocation upon  the  subject;  together  with  the  statement  of 
the  clerical  and  lay  vote,  separately,  upon  any  definite  resolu- 
tion that  may  have  come  before  said  convention  or  convoca- 
tion, 

"Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  these  resolutions  be  sent  by 
the  secretary  of  this  committee  to  every  bishop  of  this 
Church." 

This  is  the  present  status  of  this  matter,  so  far  as  we  are 
concerned. 

Here  is  a  deliberate  proposition  to  change  the  constitution 
of  the  Church,  and  to  alter  the  Prayer  Book;  and,  in  my 
judgment,  to  afl'ect  this  change  and  alteration  in  an  uncon- 
stitutional way. 

Articles  X  and  XI  of  the  Constitution  provide  the  steps 
to  be  taken  when  the  Prayer  Book  is  to  be  altered  or  the 
Constitution  changed.  By  an  organic  law,  as  set  out  in  these 
articles,  the  dioceses  do  not  pass  upon  such  alterations  and 
changes  until  they  have  been  first  enacted  by  the  General 
Convention,  and  afterward  sent  down,  by  its  authority,  to 
the  dioceses  for  their  ratification  or  disapproval. 

In  the  grave  and  serious  case  before  us,  we  have  a  com- 
mittee of  the  General  Convention  raised  to  investigate  a 
proposition  for  a  change  in  the  ofiicial  title  of  the  Church, 
and  to  report  to  a  subsequent  convention,  sending  down  to 
us  the  serious  change  proposed  in  the  Constitution  and  in 
the  Prayer  Book,  and  calling  upon  us  to  vote  upon  the  change 
proposed,  as  if  the  committee  were  acting  for  the  secretary 


ELLISON  CAPERS  253 

ot  the  General  Convention,  and  sending  us  the  action  of  that 
body  for  our  final  consideration. 

To  vote  on  this  proposition,  upon  the  request  of  this  com- 
mittee, would  be,  in  my  judgment,  clearly  to  violate  both 
the  spirit  and  the  letter  of  our  organic  law,  which  defines 
the  mode  of  changing  the  Constitution  and  altering  the  Prayer 
Book. 

But  the  proposition  to  change  our  name  in  an  unconstitu- 
tional way  is,  to  my  mind,  the  least  serious  of  the  grave 
objections  I  hold  in  the  premises.  Why  are  we  asked  to 
change  our  name?  If  the  Church  was  Protestant  in  1785, 
when  its  official  title  was  adopted,  has  it  ceased  to  be  a  Pro- 
testant Church  in  1903?  If  it  stood  for  Catholic  truth  and 
Apostolic  order  when  Scotland  (1784)  and  England  (1787) 
gave  the  episcopate  to  the  Church,  does  it  stand  less  for  Catho- 
lic truth  to-day? 

So  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  learn  from  my  research, 
I  can  find  but  one  voice  lifted  in  Convention  in  '85,  or  sub- 
sequently, against  the  adoption  of  the  title  Protestant  Epis- 
copal, and  that  voice  was  from  a  layman  from  Connecticut. 
But,  so  far  from  being  an  effectual  voice,  it  has  left  no  sign, 
in  the  record,  of  the  slightest  impression  made.  Connecticut, 
in  her  convention  of  17QO,  confirmed  the  "doings"  of  its 
deputies  on  the  final  action  of  the  General  Convention  of 
1789;  and  while  Bishop  Seabury  through  his  influence  had 
affected  some  m.odification  in  the  Constitution  of  1785,  there 
is  not  a  trace  of  his  attempting  to  expunge  from  the  Constitu- 
tion of  1789,  or  from  the  Prayer  Book,  the  word  "Pro- 
testant." Seabury  was  a  Protestant  Churchman,  as  were  all 
the  fathers  of  the  Church  who  framed  our  Constitution  and 
set  forth  the  Prayer  Book. 

There  is  not  a  man  of  us  who  has  not  solemnly  engaged  be- 
fore his  ordination,  "To  conform  to  the  doctrine,  discipline,  and 
worship  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United 
States  of  America,"  and  this  formulary  was  composed,  in  the 
Vlllth   Article   of   the   Constitution,   by  the    fathers   of   the 


254  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

Church  in  the  United  States  because  they  understood  that  their 
inheritance  from  Protestant  England  was  an  inheritance  of 
truth — CathoHc  truth  and  ApostoHc  order — to  declare  which, 
and  to  defend  which,  has  made  their  fathers  Protestants  and 
martyrs. 

This  proposition  to  change  the  name  of  the  Church  is  a 
proposition  to  haul  down  the  Protestant  flag  and  to  run  up 
a  new  standard- — a  new  flag,  the  precise  character  of  which 
I  really  do  not  understand,  and  cannot  attempt  to  describe. 
Of  one  thing  I  feel  profoundly  convinced — if  the  new  flag 
does  not  represent  a  Protestant  Church,  it  will  not  represent 
the  Church  of  the  English  martyrs,  the  Church  of  England 
from  the  Reformation  to  our  day,  the  Church  of  Seabury  and 
White,  of  Hobart  and  Whittingham,  of  Williams  of  Connecti- 
cut and  DeHon  and  Gadsden,  and  Davis  and  Howe  of  South 
Carolina,  it  can  never  become  the  Church  of  the  American 
people. 

And  this  I  believe  to  be  the  profound  conviction  of  our 
Church  in  the  United  States,  and  of  our  Mother  Church, 
the  Church  of  England.  There  is  another  consideration  which, 
while  it  may  be  a  matter  of  indifference  to  some,  is  a  matter 
of  grave  apprehension  to  my  mind,  and  of  the  highest  con- 
sideration to  us  in  South  Carolina.  I  refer  to  the  inevitable 
widening  of  the  gap  and  the  loosening  of  the  bond  between 
ourselves  and  our  brethren  in  Christ  who  hold  with  us  belief 
in  the  Catholic  Creed  and  the  Holy  Scriptures. 

If  we  are  to  present  to  our  fellow-Christians  a  constant 
mvitation  to  organic  unity,  and  if  our  Chicago-Lambeth 
Quadrilateral  is  to  have  the  slightest  consideration  from 
them,  does  any  man  really  think  that  by  repudiating  our  Protes- 
tant name  we  will  all  the  more  effectually  inspire  their  confi- 
dence : 

It  is  a  principle  I  hold  very  sacred,  involved  in  the  duty 
I  owe  to  our  Lord,  never  to  speak  indifferently  or  unworthily 
of  any  of  my   fellow-Christians  who  by  baptism  have  put 

on  Je3U3  Christ,  and  especially  of  our    Roman  CathoHc 


ELLISON  CAPERS  255 

brethren.  What  I  say,  therefore,  of  our  differences  with 
the  Holy  Roman  Church  is  said  in  its  historical  and  doctrinal 
character,  and  with  no  purpose  of  disrespect  toward  that 
branch  of  the  Church  of  Christ. 

Our  Protestant  name  and  character  w^e  derive  from  the 
protest  which  the  English  reformers  made  for  the  truths 
revealed  in  Holy  Scriptures,  and  against  the  practices  and 
some  of  the  principles  taught  by  Rome  at  the  Reformation 
period.  Since  that  period  (as  is  known  to  all  Christendom) 
Rome  had  added  to  her  Creed  certain  erroneous  articles,  and 
the  ground  of  our  protest,  as  the  historical  branch  of  the 
Holy  Catholic  Church,  is  as  strong  to-day  as  in  the  sixteenth 
century.  The  ground  of  our  protest  against  the  divisions 
of  the  Church  of  Christ,  and  the  reasons  for  organic  unity, 
are  as  strong,  and  even  stronger,  to-day  than  ever. 

Are  we,  therefore,  no  longer  Protestants?  To  repudiate 
our  name,  it  seems  to  me,  is  to  serve  notice  upon  all  Christen- 
dom that  we  have  no  further  witness  to  bear  against  the 
divisions  of  the  Christian  Church  on  the  one  hand  or  the 
supreme  authority  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome  on  the  other, 
and  that  we  are  Protestant  no  lons^er. 

However  dissatisfied  with  the  historic  title  of  the  Church 
our  brethren  of  IMilwaukee  may  be,  and  however  disposed 
the  General  Convention  to  give  their  memorial  the  fullest  and 
freest  consideration,  the  grave  fact  remains  that  the  change 
proposed  in  the  name  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  is  a 
deliberate,  carefully  planned  proposition  to  pronounce  upon  the 
Protestant  doctrine  and  worship  of  the  Church  by  expunging 
from  her  constitution  and  Prayer  Book  the  title  by  which 
she  has  been  known  from  the  first, — the  title  under  which 
she  has  grown  to  greatness  and  power, — under  w^hich  her 
Lord  has  sent  her  the  Comforter,  and  poured  out  His  blessing 
upon  her,  and  under  which  her  children  have  confided  in 
her  devotion  to  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  and  to  the  primitive 
order  of  His  Church.  I  shall  embody  these  sentiments  in 
my  official  response  to  the  communication  sent  me  by  the 


256  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

Committee,  and  I  now  lay  them  before  the  Council  for  your 
thoughtful  and  prayerful  consideration. 

Bishop  Capers'  attitude  toward  the  question  of  "Missionary 
Jurisdictions"  for  the  colored  people  is  stated  in  the  following 
from  his  council  address,  1907 : 

"At  the  request  of  a  committee  from  the  General  Board 
of  Missions,  I  have  just  prepared  a  full  report  upon  the 
missions  and  schools  among  colored  people  in  our  diocese. 
These  are  mainly  supported  by  the  General  Board,  and  it  has 
a  right  to  this  report. 

"We  have  22  missions  and  18  schools,  and  much  valuable 
Church  property,  maintained  the  past  year  at  a  total  cost  of 
$9,429.86;  of  this  sum  $3,350  went  to  the  clergy,  $4,085  to 
teachers,  and  $1,994.80  to  current  expenses.  The  greater 
part  of  this  amount, — practically  all  of  it, — comes  from  the 
General  Board  of  Missions  and  from  friends  at  the  North. 
The  missions  themselves  have  given  $1,691.69  to  their  sup- 
port, and  next  to  nothing  has  been  given  by  the  diocese. 

"My  report  shows  a  small  increase  in  the  number  of 
families,  communicants,  day-  and  Sunday-school  pupils,  and 
the  amounts  contributed  by  the  missions  and  schools.  But 
when  you  consider  the  amounts  of  money  expended  by  the 
Church,  and  the  labors  of  the  clergy,  directed  so  efficiently 
for  so  many  years  by  Archdeacon  Joyner,  it  is  surprising 
that  we  have  reported  to-day  only  275  families  and  726  com- 
municants. Of  the  1408  children  who  attend  our  schools,  the 
parents  of  most  of  them  are  Aiethodist  or  Baptists,  and  seem- 
ingly have  no  idea  of  becoming  Churchmen.  These  facts  are 
impressing  the  minds  of  friends  in  the  North,  whose  con- 
tributions have  fallen  ott  of  late,  and  they  have  given  me 
much  concern. 

"It  was  to  consider  this  whole  subject  that  the  Southern 
bishops  recently  met  in  conference  at  Washington  and  I 
regret  that  I  could  not  be  present.  With  many  of  my  Episco- 
pal brethren  I  have  come  to  think  that  if  our  churches  and 


ELLISON  CAPERS  257 

missions  among  the   negroes   in   the   South   were  organized 
into  'missionary  jurisdictions,'  under  a  bishop  or  bishops  of 
their  own  race,  that  more  efiticient  work  could  be  done  with 
them  and  for  them.     Such  an  organization  would  secure  them 
representation  in  our  General   Convention,   and  would  give 
them  a  voice  in  the  Church  of  which  they  are  members.    This 
fact  alone  would  justify  the  trial  of  missionary  jurisdictions; 
for  the  denial  of  representation  in  our  Church  councils  is, 
in  my  judgment,  a  practical  bar  to  Church  progress  among 
negroes.     I  can  see  no  better  way  to  remove  this  bar  than 
to  give  them  a  separate  missionary  organization,  under  leaders 
of  their  own,  who  would  be  to  them  what  our  missionary 
bishops  are  to  their  jurisdictions.     Moreover,  I  have  come  to 
believe  that  such   an  organization   of   Church   work   among 
negroes  is  needed  to  stimulate  a  spirit  and  mind  of  self-help 
and  self-respect.     Such  an  organization  would  be  called  upon 
more  largely  to  support  itself;  and  its  appeal  for  help,  I  be- 
lieve, would  be  enforced  by  more  earnestness  of  Church  life 
and  Church  work.     No  people,  in  Church  or  State,  will  ever 
make  progress  who  are  not  self-helpful  and  self-respectful. 
A  people  w^ho  are  forever  crutched  and  nursed,  and  who  are 
never   thrown   upon   the   resources   of   their   own   wills   and 
energies,  cannot  be  self -respectful,  and  in  the  nature  of  things 
will  never  become  self-helpful.     I  feel  a  deep  interest  in  the 
moral,  material,  and  spiritual  welfare  of  our  colored  brethren, 
and  I  feel  sure  that  their  progress  as  Churchmen  will  not  be 
furthered  under  our  present  system.     For  this  reason  I  have 
come  to  agree  with  many  of  my  episcopal  brethren  who,  like 
myself,  are  most  deeply  interested  in  the  progress  of  our  negro 
missions,  that  the  request  for  a  separate  missionary  organiza- 
tion should  have  the  careful  consideration  of  our  next  General 
Convention." 

The  following  letter  gives  Bishop  Capers'  views  on  "Bap- 
tismal Regeneration" : 


258  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

Union,  S.  C,  Dec.   16,   1899. 
My  Dear  Son  : 

Your  letter  met  me  here.  I  am  writing  in  Ginguard's  study, 
which  is  neat  and  comfortable,  but  you  could  put  it  in  one 
corner  of  your  neater  and  more  comfortable  room. 

I  hope  you  spoke  to  Bishop  Randolph  on  the  subject  which 
most  interested  me  in  your  letter — the  subject  of  the  new 
life  in  Christ  as  related  to  the  sacrament  of  Holy  Baptism. 
Your  reference  is  particularly  to  the  Prayer  Book  language 
in  the  office  for  adult  baptism.  Did  you  not  mean  infant 
baptism?  I  have  never  known,  I  think,  exception  taken  to 
the  former,  while  a  long  controversy  has  been  waged  about 
the  latter.  It  was  the  word  regenerate,  in  the  office  for  infant 
baptism,  that  made  the  Cheney  Schism,  and  used  to  be  the 
bane  of  Low  Churchmen  fifty  years  ago.  But  let  us  look 
at  the  language  of  adult  baptism.  It  is  language  applied 
to  one  who  comes  to  Holy  Baptism  in  repentance  and  faith. 
Repentance,  whereby  we  forsake  sin,  and  faith,  whereby  we 
steadfastly  believe  the  promises  of  God  are  the  notes — the 
gospel  notes  of  the  regenerate  life.  No  one  can  lawfully 
be  baptized  who  does  not  come  in  penitence  and  faith,  how- 
ever imperfect  the  penitence,  or  weak  the  faith.  The  sacra- 
ment is  the  outward  sign  of  the  grace  given,  whereby  the 
person  has  come  to  repent  and  turn  to  God;  and  it  (the 
sacrament)  is,  moreover,  ordained  by  Christ  to  be  this  out- 
ward, visible  sign,  and  a  means  of  grace  given — a  divinely 
appointed  pledge  to  us  of  grace  given.  What,  then,  can 
be  the  objection  to  saying,  after  naming  a  newborn  soul 
into  Christ's  Kingdom,  and  giving  him  or  her  the  sign  of 
his  or  her  new  birth,  and  the  pledge  that  this  person  is  new- 
born— "Let  us  give  thanks,"  &c.  ? 

The  Catechism  distinctly  guards  against  making  the  error 
of  placing  the  spiritual  renewal  of  the  soul  in  the  water 
applied,  or  in  the  words  used.  These  are  essentials  of  the 
outward,  the  visible,  only.  The  spiritual,  the  inward  gift,  is 
distinctly  declared  to  be  a  dying  unto  sin,  and  a  new  birth 


ELLISON  CAPERS  259 

unto  righteousness.  We  are  made,  says  the  Church  {vide  the 
Catechism),  children  of  grace,  regenerate,  by  (not  water 
and  words,  but)  this  death  unto  sin  and  this  new  birth 
unto  righteousness ;  and  these  come  to  us  by  the  grace  of 
God. 

You  must  study  your  Prayer  Book,  my  dear  Walt,  in  its 
whole  teaching,  and  let  the  whole  teaching  represent  the  doc- 
trine, not  a  part  of  it.  Now,  I  could  not,  and  would  not, 
use  the  language  of  adult  baptism  for  an  adult  who  came 
to  me  and  asked  for  the  sacrament  professing  and  showing 
no  repentance  and  no  faith.  That  would  be  to  use  the  office 
as  if  a  careless  sinner,  unrepentant  and  unbelieving,  could 
be  and  would  be  renewed  and  regenerated  by  it.  But  when 
a  man  or  woman  comes,  forsaking  sin  and  believing  in  God's 
love  and  grace,  I  rejoice  to  give  such  an  one  the  pledge, 
the  sign,  the  blessed  declaration  of  the  reality  of  it  all — the 
ordained  means  of  this  greatest  of  moral  and  spiritual  assur- 
ances, given  to  mortal  man  on  this  earth. 

I  write  hurriedly,  as  I  have  a  few  moments  to  myself,  but 
I  want  to  follow  up  the  subject  with  you.  Tell  me  how  this 
impresses  you.      I  like  your  abstract  on  Confirmation." 

To  his  grandsons  upon  the  occasion  of  their  confirmation : 

Columbia,  S.  C,  Apl.  23,  1906. 
To  Masters  Ellison  Howe  and  William  Theodotus 
Capers : 
My  Dear  Grandsons—Your  letters  to  your  grandmother 
have  given  her,  and  given  me,  the  sweetest  happiness.  She 
cannot  write,  as  she  would  like  to  do,  and  you  must  take  this 
letter  as  from  her,  as  well  as  from  me.  We  congratulate  you, 
dear  boys,  on  your  confirmation.  It  means  so  much  to  you, 
and  so  much  to  those  who  love  you  most.  It  means  that  God 
has  blessed  your  purpose  to  live,  day  by  day,  as  He  wants  us 
all  to  live ;  and  He  wants  us  to  live  just  as  you  have  promised 
to  live — a  Christian  life!  swch  a  life  i??  th?  truest,  and  the  hap- 


26o  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

piest  life,  and  such  a  life  only  can  glorify  Him,  and  bring  us 
true  peace  and  honor. 

When  you  answered  the  bishop  that  you  renewed  for  your- 
selves your  baptismal  vows,  you  made  those  holy  vows  of 
your  baptism  your  own  vows,  and  engaged  to  renounce  what 
is  wrong — to  believe  the  truth,  and  live  by  the  law  of  God. 
Every  true  boy,  and  every  true  man,  is  true  only  as  he  does 
renounce  what  is  wrong,  honor  what  is  true,  and  reverence  and 
keep  God's  law. 

In  your  confirmation  God  gave  you  His  Holy  Spirit  to  help 
you  keep  this  promise,  and  to  remind  you,  every  day,  of  your 
duty.  So  Vk^hen  you  feel  like  doing  or  saying  something  that 
you  know  is  wrong,  God  will  help  you  to  see  and  to  feel  that 
it  is  wrong,  and  then  your  part  will  be  to  say — I  can't  do  this, 
or  that;  I  can't  indulge  in  this  or  that  feeling,  or  temper, 
because  it  is  wrong;  and  I  have  promised  God  to  renounce 
what  he  makes  me  know  and  feel  to  be  wrong.  He  has  given 
me  His  spirit  of  righteousness  in  my  heart,  to  make  me  feel 
and  know  the  right  from  the  wrong,  and  if  I  do,  or  say  the 
wrong,  I  am  not  true  to  my  vow.  You  see,  then,  how  God's 
Holy  Spirit  will  help  you  to  do  right.  But  suppose  the  day 
comes  when  you  fail!  when  you  do  the  wrong!  Well,  confess 
to  God  in  sincere  repentence,  and  try  again,  and  God  will  help 
you,  every  time  you  try.  And  so  you  can  walk  in  the  w^ays  of 
truth  and  right,  all  the  days  of  your  life. 

I  read  of  a  great  British  general  who  was  so  sure  of  vic- 
tory, that  he  undervalued  his  enemy's  strength  and  went  into 
battle  without  counting  the  costs.  Well,  he  was  defeated,  aiVd 
his  troops  were  routed,  and  he  was  mortally  wounded  trying 
to  rally  them.  When  his  friends  came  to  him.  as  he  lay  on 
the  field,  he  exclaimed.  "Who  would  have  thought  it!"  Mean- 
ing, who  of  us  would  have  thought  that  I  and  my  army  could 
have  been  so  beaten.  And  seeing  how  disheartened  and  dis- 
tressed his  staff  officers  were,  he  said :  "Never  mind,  gentle- 
men, we  will  do  better  next  time !"  That  was  true  repentance, 
boys.  "Never  mind>  we  will  do  better  next  time," 


ELLISON  CAPERS  261 

I  was  in  Charleston  Sunday  and  confirmed  a  large  class  at 
the  Holy  Communion,  most  all  of  them  boys  and  young  girls. 
Though  I  was  not  sure,  I  thought  maybe  you  boys  were  to 
come  that  day  to  Confirmation,  and  when  I  said  the  beautiful 
prayer  after  the  Confirmation  my  mind  reverted  to  Lexington, 
to  your  dear  father,  and  my  dear  grandsons,  presented  by  him 
for  Confirmation ! 

May  God's  fatherly  hand,  dear  boys,  ever  be  over  you,  and 
His  Holy  Spirit  ever  be  with  you! 

Your  dear  grandmother,  in  spite  of  constant  pain  and  her 
unrelieved  weakness,  holds  her  own,  and  while  she  is  almost 
helpless,  she  does  not  grow  weaker.     Give  our  devoted  love  to 
father,  mother,  and  little  Sam,  and  believe  me,  dear  boys, 
Your  affectionate  grandfather, 

Ellison  Capers. 

Commenting  upon  his  wife's  constant  sufferings,  he  writes 
to  one  of  his  children: 

"Your  dear  mother  is  this  moment  asleep  in  the  big  chair  in 
my  study,  where  she  spends  her  days.  It  is  too  cold  and  windy 
to  give  her  a  drive,  so  she  is  helped  up  every  hour  or  so,  takes 
my  arm,  or  May's  or  Rena's,  and  walks  about  those  two  rooms 
for  a  little  exercise,  but  only  for  a  few  moments.  For  some 
reason  she  will  not  go  into  the  hall  or  dining-room.  I  can't  get 
her  to  go  to  the  table  any  more  in  her  rolling  chair,  and  I  can't 
understand  why,  especially  as  it  would  give  us  so  much  gratifi- 
cation to  see  her  there.  Rena  serves  her  meals  here  in  my 
study.  Dear  soul!  she  seems  to  have  accepted  her  situation 
as  hopeless,  and  her  attitude  of  mind  is  that  of  a  submissive 
prisoner,  whose  sentence  is  certain.  Last  night  she  had  one  of 
her  bad  nights. 

"Oh,  how  mysterious  these  sufferings !  They  seem  so  un- 
deserved, so  cruel,  and  so  needless.  There  never  lived  a  more 
loyal  soul  to  her  God  and  Saviour,  and  a  heart  and  a  mind 
more  true  to  duty.    They  cannot  teach  her  submission  or  faith. 


262  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

for  these  she  knows  by  heart,  and  prayer  has  been  her  daily 
life  for  more  than  a  half  century.  I,  who  know  her  heart, 
know  this,  and  so  I  am  asking  in  my  sleep  and  in  my  waking, 
why  this  suffering  and  quivering  of  these  dear  hands  and  feet. 
There  is  no  moral  reason  for  it  all.  I  can  only  understand  it 
in  its  physical  side — on  the  side  that  aches  come  from  causes 
in  the  blood,  in  the  nerves,  in  the  muscles;  causes  for  which 
the  innocent  are  not  responsible. 

"All  the  good  that  comes  to  me  from  these  hours,  bitter 
hours, — God  only  knows  how  bitter,- — is  a  cold  and  deeper 
dread  of  sin  and  a  more  awful  respect  for  law!  If  it  were  I 
who  was  chained  and  crucified  I  could  understand  my  own 
deserts,  but  that  the  righteous  soul  of  your  dear  mother — with 
her  life  behind  her — should  be  so  vexed,  except  as  the  law 
above  referred  to  vexes  and  plagues  us  all,  I  cannot  compre- 
hend. 

'T  write  all  this,  my  dear  son,  with  not  one  atom  of  feeling 
against  God,  as  if  I  was  complaining  of  his  dispensations.  I 
do  not  believe  He  would  send  one  pain  to  the  body  of  your  dear 
mother,  but  I  know  He  would  not  exempt  His  guiltless  Son 
from  law  and  its  penalty,  and  do  not  blame  Him  for  not 
exempting  me  and  mine.  If  Jesus  had  His  Gethsemane,  and 
His  Cavalry,  I  know  we  must  have  ours,  and  I  understand 
that;  but  there  was  no  relentless,  physical  law  for  Him  in 
Gethsemane,  and  the  soul  of  His  sufferings  was  His  suffering 
soul,  a  suffering  which  glorifies  and  ennobles!  While  your 
dear  mother's  sufferings  seem  only  explicable  to  me  on  the 
side  of  an  inexorable  law,  they  never  come  between  me  and 
my  Heavenly  Father,  or  obscure  my  faith  in  His  love  and 
His  grace." 


ELLISON  CAPERS  263 

BISHOP  CAPERS  ADVISES  HIS  SONS    AS  TO  THEIR  '"CALLS"  TO 

NEW    WORK 

Camp  Cottage, 
Sept.  12/05. 
My  Dear  Son: 

Both  your  letters,  with  enclosures,  came  yesterday,  and  I 
have  given  them  earnest  thought,  and  consideration. 

I  appreciate  the  attitude  of  your  vestry,  and  the  judgment 
of  your  bishop — that  with  so  earnest  a  call  before  you,  offering 
all  that  the  interested  parties  represent,  you  must  give  it  "care- 
ful consideration"  and  "prayerful  thought." 

I  suppose  neither  the  vestry  nor  the  bishop  suggested  that 
careful  consideration  and  prayerful  thought  were  equally  due 

to  your  work,  and  its  claims,  in .   But  I  feel  bound  to  do 

so.  You  will  find  drawbacks  and  difficulties,  no  matter  where 
you  go,  and  I  have  no  idea,  my  dear  son,  that  your  life  and 

work  in  will  offer  you  greater  facilities  for  doing  your 

Master's  work  than  you  now  have. 

You  left  a  devoted  flock  in  ,  from  a  sense  of  duty 

to  God  and  man  to  take  up  your  ministry  in ,  and  now, 

after  a  brief  period,  you  propose  to  leave  an  equally  devoted 

people,  and  a  great  work,  for  a  call  to !    This  disposition 

to  change  you  should  carefully  examine,  it  seems  to  me.  There 
may  be  reasons  for  it.   You  have  not  given  them  in  either  of 

your  letters.  When  you  have  been  at for  fifteen  months, 

and  a  call  comes  (as,  no  doubt,  it  will)  to  Louisville,  or  Rich- 
mond, with  great  promises  of  "opportunity,"  and  a  still  larger 
salary,  will  you  be  equal  to  the  sacrifice  of  remaining?  I  sug- 
gest this  for  your  consideration,  for  I  know,  my  dear  son,  you 
wish  to  act  consistently  with  the  high,  true  tone  on  which  your 
life  and  ministry  have  been  set,  and  which  have  mainly  at- 
tracted the  attention  of  the  Church  to  it. 

I  have  written  without  any  knowledge  of  the  reasons  or 
causes  which  induce  you  to  think  seriously  of  leaving  your 
present  work  and  life  in .  Up  to  this  hour,  I  have  thought 


264  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

of  you  as  happy  in  it.  well  provided  for,  and  have  been  again 
and  again  assured  of  the  blessing  of  God  upon  your  labors. 
Why,  then,  should  you  give  it  up?  In  my  judgment,  upon  the 
answer  to  this  question  the  high  integrity  of  your  decision 
must  depend ;  for  I  put  aside  considerations  of  rank  and  place 
and  money,  as  these  have  never  had  place  in  your  character 
or  ministry,  and  I  dread  their  power  as  I  see  and  feel  their 
force. 

If   you   leave  for   this   call,    in  my  judgment   your 

justification  must  be  in  the  soundness,  the  reasonableness,  and 
the  urgency  of  your  reasons  for  the  change.  My  advice,  then, 
is,  my  dear  son,  consider  first  why  you  should  resign  your 
parish  before  you  consider  the  merits  of  your  call,  and  in  con- 
sidering the  latter  I  would  not  give  undue  weight  to  the 
"opportunity"  or  the  "salary."  But,  after  all,  the  decision 
must  be  yours,  and  as  I  have  confidence  in  the  sincerity  of  your 
unworldliness,  whatever  your  decision  may  be  I  will  feel  that 
you  have  acted  in  the  love  and  fear  of  God.  and  with  the  cour- 
age of  your  conscience. 

If  you  decide  to  accept  this  call,  my  prayer  will  be  for 
you,  my  dear  son.  that  the  strength  and  stability  of  your  minis- 
terial character  may  not  suffer  by  the  change. 

Your  devoted  father, 

Ellison  Capers. 

Columbia,  S.  C,  Jany.  5. 
My  Dear  Son  : 

Just  a  line  to  say  we  have  your  letter.  Splendid  pen  picture 
of  John !  Fine  tribute  to  Lilla.  Have  been  busy  all  day  fixing 
up  May's  papers  for  John  to  settle  her  affairs  with  the  Gov- 
ernment. 

I  hardly  know,  Walt,  what  to  say  about  your  call. 

Mother  is  very  decided;  tell  him,  she  says,  to  hold  on  where 
he  is  at  present — not  to  leave  Virginia,  yet.  My  judgment  is, 
that  the  months  and  years  of  study,  reading,  and  writing,  and 
preparation  which  belong  to  the  first  years  of  a  ministry  are 


ELLISON  CAPERS  265 

never  to  be  duplicated;  never  repeated,  never  regained,  if  lost. 
You  have  them  now.  I  would  say,  hold  them  fast  until  you 
feel  that  the  centrifugal  power  is  a  moral  force  so  much  greater 
than  the  centripetal  that  you  can  hold  on  no  longer — then  obey 
the  law.  and  fly!  May  God  guide  you.  my  dear  son,  and  give 
you  a  right  judgment.  I  hope  to  live  to  welcome  you  to  South 
Carolina. 

Bishop's  Residence, 

CoLUMBiA_,  April  22,  1898. 
My  Dear  Son  : 

Your  letter  came  to-night,  and  write  briefly  to  say,  that  you 
have  expressed  my  feeling  exactly — it  is  our  duty  as  good 
citizens  to  support  the  President  and  Congress  in  the  war  with 
Spain.  Duty  and  patriotism  alike  demand  it,  and  I  should  be 
ashamed  of  our  State  if  I  felt  that  this  was  not  the  sentiment 
of  her  people.  But  duties,  like  our  impulses  and  feelings, 
often  seem  to  conflict.  When  the  conflict  comes,  the  safe  rule 
is  to  follow  the  higher  and  holier  duty.  In  your  case,  duty 
has  claimed  you  for  the  service  of  the  Prince  of  Peace,  and 
unless  our  country  was  invaded  and  needed  her  sons  on  the 
field,  there  is  no  obligation  upon  you  to  lay  down  your  sacred 
calling  to  take  up  arms. 

Your  devoted. 

Father. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

LAST  DAYS 

During  the  year  1906  Mrs.  Capers  was  not  only  a  confirmed 
invalid,  but  was  also  a  constant  sufferer. 

This  letter  to  his  son,  Dean  Wm.  T.  Capers,  marks  the  be- 
ginning of  the  end  for  Bishop  Capers : 

Columbia^  S.  C,  May  29,  1907. 
My  Dear  Odd  : 

It  has  been  arranged  for  our  removal  to  "Camp  Cottage" 
in  the  second  week  of  June.  May,  the  boys,  Miss  Sams,  and 
the  cook  will  go  up,  via  Hendersonville,  on  the  loth  and  nth, 
and  the  man  servant  and  nurse  will  go  to  Greenville  on  the 
nth.  Mother  will  rest  at  Frank's  a  day  or  two,  and  we  will 
drive  up  to  "Camp  Cottage"  by  easy  stages,  Frank  going  along 
with  his  horse  and  buggy  to  help  us. 

Mother  prefers  this  to  going  to  Brevard.  She  wants  you 
to  arrange  your  visit  as  early  in  the  summer  as  you  can,  and 
says  that  I  must  tell  you  that  the  Lodge  will  be  kept  for  you, 
Rebe,  and  the  boys. 

I  undertake  this  trip  with  much  hesitation,  and  even  fear. 
But  God  has  ordained  things  so  differently  from  my  expecta- 
tions, that  I  leave  the  result  in  confidence  to  His  overruling 
Providence.  Mother  is  full  of  it.  And  yet  she  is  so  helpless, 
and  so  dependent  upon  her  physical  comfort  and  her  special 
food  that  I  dread  the  risk  we  are  taking. 

I  am  so  busy  at  my  desk  that  I  must  ask  you  to  send  this 
on  to  John  for  me.     Mispah! 

Your  devoted  father, 

E.  Capers. 
266 


ELLISON  CAPERS  267 

At  the  time  of  this  letter  Bishop  Capers  was  by  no  means 
well.  His  wife's  unceasing  sufiferings,  the  confusion  of  a  house 
that  had  now  for  two  years  been  practically  a  hospital,  his 
own  failing  health,  and  his  eagerness  to  keep  the  work  of  his 
diocese  up  to  the  high  mark  of  proficiency  he  had  set,  all  com- 
bined to  sap  his  strength  and  break  down  his  constitution. 
Mrs.  Capers  was  perfectly  helpless  and  had  to  be  carried 
everywhere  she  went.  Naturally  his  solicitude  for  her  com- 
fort during  the  anticipated  journey  mentioned  in  the  preceding 
letter  was  very  great,  inasmuch  as  she  had  to  be  lifted  in  and 
out  of  the  carriage,  in  and  out  of  the  trains,  and  endure  a  long 
drive  of  thirty-two  miles  by  conveyance.  This  drive  Mrs. 
Capers  enjoyed  at  first,  but  it  proved,  as  the  Bishop  had 
predicted,  too  much  for  her  strength.  Arriving  at  Cedar 
Mountain,  the  Bishop  set  to  work  to  get  everything  about  place 
and  house  straight  and  in  "applie-pie  order"  before  he  left  for 
Sewanee,  to  be  in  attendance  upon  the  meeting  of  the  board  of 
trustees  of  the  University  of  the  South.  By  virtue  of  his  office 
as  chancellor  he  presided  over  their  meetings.  His  stay  was 
limited,  and  he  pressed  his  work  with  great  vigor. 

Mrs.  Capers  and  the  members  of  the  family  present  impor- 
tuned him  not  to  undertake  the  trip,  as  he  was  manifestly  un- 
well. But  Bishop  Capers  felt  it  incumbent  upon  him  to  go ;  he 
held  it  his  duty.  A  sense  of  duty  always  closed  the  argu- 
ment for  him.  Upon  the  morning  fixed  for  his  departure  he 
rose  early,  shaved  himself,  and  completed  his  preparations 
for  the  journey.  After  breakfasting,  he  went  upstairs  to  get 
his  valises.  Mrs.  Capers  and  their  daughter,  Mrs.  Satterlee, 
were  in  the  sitting-room  waiting  to  tell  him  good-bye.  They 
were  suddenly  alarmed  by  the  sound  of  a  heavy  fall.  Rush- 
ing upstairs,  Mrs.  Satterlee  found  her  father  lying  on  the 
floor,  also  was  unconscious.  A  stroke  of  paralysis  had  sounded 
the  knell  of  his  departing  day.  The  gallant  soldier  had  fallen 
at  his  post.  The  man  of  God  was  stricken  down  in  the  dis- 
charge of  duty. 

In  time  he  regained  consciousness.     During  the  long  sum- 


268  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

mer  which  ensued,  though  terribly  afflicted  and  suffering  con- 
stantly, he  gradually  regained  sufficient  strength  to  be  re- 
moved to  his  home  m  Columbia.  Here  from  his  office  he  was 
able  to  attend  to  some  of  the  affairs  of  the  diocese.  In  the 
meantime  the  Council  of  May,  1907,  had  elected  the  Rev. 
William  A.  Guerry,  Chaplain  of  Sewanee,  as  bishop  coadjutor. 
Upon  his  consecration  Bishop  Capers  turned  over  to  him  the 
greater  part  of  the  burdens  and  responsibilities  of  the  work. 

Few  sights  were  more  pathetic,  and  no  mystery  more 
inscrutable,  than  the  suffering  and  perfect  helplessness  of 
Bishop  and  Mrs  Capers,  who  after  forty  years  of  devoted 
service  to  God  and  His  Church,  were  both  now  crucified  in 
the  flesh.  But  with  several  nurses  and  the  unceasing  atten- 
tions of  devoted  friends,  they  were  made  as  comfortable  as 
human  love  and  sympathy  and  medical  skill  could  make  them. 
And  like  the  martyrs  of  the  early  Church,  they  found  peace 
and  strength  in  each  cheering  the  other  and  giving  some  direc- 
tion or  making  some  request  that  would  in  no  small  way  minis- 
ter to  the  other's  necessity. 

The  Christ-like  spirit  of  the  Bishop  is  revealed  in  this  expres- 
sion of  thankfulness  which  he  sent  to  his  children.  This  he 
painfully  and  laboriously  wrote  and  rewrote,  that  each  of  his 
seven  children  might  have  a  copy,  and  know  how  their  father 
felt  in  the  midst  of  his  overwhelming  afflictions. 

Thanksgiving  Day,  November  28,  1907. 

I  give  especial  thanks  to-day  for  the  following  blessings  of 
the  past  year : 

1.  That  my  precious  wife  is  not  suffering  as  she  was  on  last 
Thanksgiving  Day,  and  that  her  life  and  my  own  have  been 
spared  to  my  family. 

2.  For  the  love  and  devotion  of  my  family,  and  for  the 
kindness  of  my  friends  in  their  many  attentions. 

3.  For  the  beautiful  weather  which  has  favored  my  drives 
all  through  the  fall  months. 


ELLISON  CAPERS  269 

4.  That  I  am  to  eat  dinner  with  my  family  to-day,  for  the 
first  time  since  the  14th  of  June  last. 

5.  For  the  hope  I  have  of  my  ultimate  recovery,  after  my 
illness  and  utter  prostration  of  June  14th  of  the  past  summer. 

6.  For  my  faith  in  God  and  His  over-ruling  care  and  love. 

Devotedly  your  father,  Ellison  Capers. 

During  the  ensuing  winter,  through  the  kindness  of  the 
Standing  Committee  of  the  diocese.  Bishop  Capers  made  a 
visit  to  the  eastern  shore  of  Florida.  He  was  accompanied 
by  his  son.  Dean  William  T.  Capers,  and  his  daughter,  Mrs. 
C.  B.  Satterlee.  This  trip  greatly  improved  him,  and  he  clung 
with  splendid  courage  to  the  hope  of  ultimate  recovery.  How- 
ever, during  the  latter  part  of  April  he  had  an  attack  which 
terminated  in  a  pleural  trouble. 

On  April  3,  1908,  Bishop  Capers  issued  his  last  order, 
which  follows : 

Diocese  of  South  Carolina 
Bishop's  House 

Columbia,  S.  C,  April  3,  1908. 

Seeing  that  my  brother  bishops  are  appointing  clerical  and 
lay  delegates  to  represent  their  dioceses  in  the  forthcoming 
Pan-Anglican  Congress,  to  assemble  at  Westminster  in  June 
next,  I  hereby  appoint  the  following  to  represent  the  Diocese 
of  South  Carolina  in  said  congress,  to-wit :  Rev.  John  Ker- 
shaw, D.  D.,  Rev.  W.  P.  Witsell,  D.  D.,  Rev.  James  M. 
Magruder,  A.  M.,  Rev.  H.  J.  Mikell,  B.  D.,  Mr.  Robt.  W. 
Shand,  Trinity  Church;  Mr.  Thos.  W.  Bacot,  St.  Phillip's 
Church ;  Dr.  Wm.  H.  Johnson,  Grace  Church. 

To  represent  the  Woman's  Auxiliary  in  South  Carolina : 
Mrs.  A.  R.  Hayward,  Miss  Mary  C  Pinckney,  Miss  S.  P. 
Carroll.  Faithfully  your  Bishop  in  Christ, 

Ellison  Capers, 
Diocese  of  South  Carolina. 


270  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

the  last  letter  the  bishop  ever  wrote. 

Rev.  a.  R.  Mitchell: 

My  Dear  Bro. :  A  thousand  thanks  for  your  letter  with  its 
cheering  and  most  comforting  words. 

Faithfully  yours, 

Ellison  Capers. 

The  last  two  weeks  of  his  life  were  passed  in  the  greatest 
agony.     Passion  Week  was  a  reality  with  him. 

Between  his  paroxysms  of  pain  the  suffering  Bishop  apolo- 
gized to  the  nurses  for  the  trouble  he  was  giving  them,  and 
frequently  reproached  himself  for  complaining,  saying  that 
a  brave  soldier  never  complained  of  pain  or  hardship.  On 
Good  Friday  he  was  crucified  in  the  flesh,  and  during  an  inter- 
val when  his  sufferings  were  alleviated  he  reproached  himself 
for  the  manner  in  which  he  had  borne  them,  and  he  said  to 
those  gathered  about  his  bed.  that  he  ought  to  be  ashamed 
of  himself  for  complaining  so;  that  when  his  Divine  Master 
was  crucified  there  was  not  one  to  minister  to  Him,  only  some- 
one to  offer  Him  in  mockery  a  bitter  draught,  while  with  him 
all  that  love  and  sympathy,  skill  and  loyalty,  could  contrive 
was  being  done.  On  April  22  his  noble  spirit  returned  to 
God  who  gave  it. 

The  death  of  Ellison  Capers  removed  the  last  surviving 
brigadier  general  in  South  Carolina.  It  is  related  by  his  com- 
rades that  the  bishop  was  an  intrepid  soldier.  His  men  always 
loved  him  and  were  absolutely  confident  in  his  ability  as  a 
commander.  Time  after  time  he  was  "published"  in  the  gen- 
eral orders  for  distinguished  service.  He  was  often  told  by 
his  friends  that  he  exposed  himself  and  ran  risks.  "Expose 
myself!"  he  remarked  on  one  occasion,  "that's  what  an  officer 
is  for.  We  have  a  cause  worth  fighting  for.  and  we  have  to 
fight  to  win." 

Intrepid,  whole-hearted,  well-poised,  he  was  strong  in  influ- 
ence that  had  been  nobly  won  by  great  labors ;  "a  doer  of  things 


ELLISON  CAPERS  271 

worthy  to  be  written;  inheriting  a  dignity  unapproached  by 
him  who  has  merely  written  things  worthy  to  be  read" ;  having 
appHed  the  activities  of  Hfe  to  the  loftiest  uses,  Bishop  Capers 
passed  into  the  City  of  God,  where,  in  the  domain  of  spirits 
forever  blessed  and  glorified,  those  activities  will  ever  move  on, 

"While  life,  and  thought  and  being  last, 
Or  immortality  endures." 

We  print  the  following  from  the  Columbia  State: 

CAPERS  SLEEPS  IN  SACRED  SOIL 

Body  of  the  Beloved  Prelate  Interred  Yesterday. 

The  South's  Great  Sorrow — The  Reverend  Head 

OF  the  Diocese  Mourned  by  Many  of  All 

Creeds  and  Stations  in  Life. 

Capers  sleeps.  A  dual  warfare  o'er,  the  warrior  is  at  rest. 
The  clay  which  holds  the  dust  of  the  Hamptons,  the  Pres- 
tons,  and  Mannings  now  holds  that  of  that  other  great  South 
Carolinian,  whose  soul,  in  peace,  as  in  war,  was  attuned  to 
the  great  diapason  of  love  of  country,  love  of  fellow-man,  and 
love  of  God.  In  war  he  rode  grandly  at  the  head  of  his 
troopers ;  in  restoration  after  peace  he  was  given  the  oppor- 
tunity for  the  highest  civic  honors;  in  the  battle  against  sin 
his  warrior  soul  was  triumphant,  and,  as  the  prelate  of  a 
great  Church,  he  was  honored,  believed  in,  and  loved  by  a 
people  representing  the  highest  citizenship  of  this  country. 

Under  the  shadows  of  Trinity  he  sleeps.  His  regal  soul  has 
gone  to  the  realms  of  truth  and  love  eternal;  his  noble  form 
enriches  the  dust  which  holds  the  mortal  part  of  many  of 
South  Carolina's  great  men.  The  sorrow  occasioned  by  his 
passing  was  Statewide,  no  creed,  no  station,  but  was  not  rep- 
resented in  that  exhibition  of  love  and  veneration  which  in 
floral  tributes  most  beautiful  mark  his  resting  place. 


:^7^  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

There  was  no  sadness  upon  his  beautiful  brow,  no  mark 
of  suffering  as  he  lay  there,  gazed  at  lovingly  by  those  whose 
hearts  he  had  ennobled  by  words  of  truth.  The  bier  which 
held  this  princely  dead  was  surrounded  by  many  sorrowed 
hearts,  and  yet  they  but  felt  that  he  lives,  that  he  has  pain  no 
more,  that  he  has  gone  Home.  The  royal  purple  of  his  couch 
typifies  the  regal  life  he  has  led;  for  some  it  would  have 
been  ostentatious,  for  Ellison  Capers  it  was  no  compliment, 
but  rather  a  fulfillment.  God  seemed  to  smile  upon  the  day 
when  the  soul  of  this  great  prelate  was  relieved  from  pain, 
when  the  Church  glorified  in  his  reincarnation.  Ellison  Capers 
seems  not  to  have  died,  but  to  have  been  translated. 

At  the  head  of  his  bier  in  the  chancel  of  Trinity  there  was 
the  significant  floral  suggestion  "The  Gates  Ajar."  Upon 
the  purple  bound  casket  there  were  tributes  in  flowers  repre- 
senting the  school  in  which  his  mind  was  trained ;  the  glorious 
army  in  which  his  courageous  life  was  as  a  benison;  the 
State  which  he  loved  and  served  and  which  he  would  have 
loved  to  have  served  continuously  but  for  that  higher  call ; 
and  representing  the  Church  which  for  a  generation  he  served 
in  meekness,  with  love  and  with  power. 

The  funeral  of  Ellison  Capers  marked  the  passing  of  a  man 
glorious  in  war,  honored  in  statecraft,  beloved  by  those  who 
lived  a  blameless  life. 

The  ceremonies  attending  the  placing  of  his  body  in  the 
grave  were  fitly  representative  of  his  life.  There  were  present 
the  representatives  of  many  peoples  and  many  creeds,  and  of 
the  black  men  whom  the  beloved  dead  had  tried  to  uplift.  The 
great  organ  seemed  to  sob  when  the  tender  verses  of  Scripture 
were  chanted,  and  the  hearts  of  all  men  were  full  when  they 
reflected  upon  the  benediction  of  this  well-spent  life. 

The  funeral  services  over  the  body  of  Ellison  Capers  were 
held  at  Trinity  Church  yesterday  at  12.30  o'clock  in  the  pres- 
ence of  a  large  congregation,  representing  every  creed  and 
every  station.  It  was  an  outpouring  of  love  for  the  man  who 
has  stood  so  high  in  the  South  as  a  soldier,  a  citizen,  and  a 


ELLISON  CAPERS  273 

churchman,  combining  all  these  qualities  and  with  each  win- 
ning honor  and  esteem. 

The  service  was  conducted  with  the  beautiful,  yet  simple, 
ritual  of  the  Episcopal  Church.  Every  denomination  was 
represented,  every  creed  paid  this  the  last  tribute  of  respect 
to  the  man  who  stood  so  high  in  the  estimation  of  his  fellow- 
men. 

As  the  beautiful  day  broke  yesterday  morning,  holy  com- 
munion was  held,  being  conducted  by  Bishop  Guerry  and  Rev. 
Walter  B.  and  William  T.  Capers.  Afterward  the  doors  of 
the  church  were  open  to  those  who  wished  to  pay  their  last 
tribute  of  love  and  respect.  At  noon  the  clergy  and  members 
of  the  church  committees  assembled  in  Satterlee  Hall  to  pre- 
pare for  the  funeral.  In  the  rear  of  the  church  the  united 
choirs  of  the  churches  of  Trinity  and  Good  Shepherd  assem- 
bled, and  at  12.30  the  funeral  services  began  with  the  proces- 
sion to  the  church.  On  both  sides  of  the  aisles  were  drawn  up 
the  members  of  the  Wade  Hampton  Chapter  of  the  United 
Confederate  Veterans.  Many  of  these  men  had  followed  the 
command  of  the  beloved  churchman,  had  witnessed  his  gal- 
lantry in  other  fields,  and  in  their  own  way  wished  to  pay 
their  last  tribute  of  respect  to  the  dead  soldier.  The  active 
pall-bearers  were  the  five  sons  and  Dr.  Wm.  H.  Johnson,  his 
son-in-law,  these  coming  before  the  procession  of  the  clergy. 

The  chancel  and  church  were  made  beautiful  with  floral 
tributes.  The  body  of  the  Bishop  rested  upon  the  chancel,  the 
casket  being  draped  in  purple,  the  color  of  the  robes  of  his 
ofiice,  and  in  the  rear  the  beautiful  Easter  lilies  lent  sig^nifi- 
cance  to  the  solemn  services.  After  a  h3nnn,  the  funeral 
services  were  opened  by  Bishop  Guerry,  and  verses  were  read 
by  Dr.  W.  B.  Gordon,  of  Camden,  and  Rev.  K.  G.  Finlay, 
of  Camden.  The  prayer  was  read  by  Bishop  Strange,  and  the 
gospel  by  Bishop  Nelson,  Georgia. 

With  the  solemn  funeral  hymn  the  body  was  then  borne 
to  the  grave  in  the  churchyard,  where  it  was  gently  lowered 
to  its  last  resting  place  by  the  relatives  of  the  Bishop.     Here 


274  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

the  funeral  hymn  was  recited  by  Rev.  WilHam  T.  Capers,  and 
the  last  committal  recited  by  Bishop  Guerry,  this  closing  the 
service. 


Reviewing  the  work  of  Ellison  Caper's  episcopate,  we  find 
that  the  50  clergymen  canonically  resident  in  the  diocese  had 
increased  to  60;  the  4000  communicants  had  grown  to  8000 
and  over;  the  310  teachers  and  2753  scholars  in  the  Sunday 
schools  had  increased  to  532  teachers  and  4000  Sunday  school 
pupils.  The  85  active  congregations  to  be  found  in  the  diocese 
at  his  consecration  had  increased  to  100.  During  the  year 
closing  with  the  Convention  that  elected  Dr.  Capers  there  was 
raised  for  all  purposes  by  the  diocese  $64,228.59;  during  the 
year  closing  in  May,  1906,  the  Church  in  South  Carolina 
raised  $104,218.78;  for  diocesan  missions  $3,323.78;  1906, 
$6,205.40;  for  general  missions  in  1893,  $2,204.00;  in  1906, 
$4,760.00.  During  the  same  length  of  time  19  new  churches 
and  chapels  were  built,  and  41  men  ordained  by  Bishop  Capers 
to  the  ministry.  These  statistics  reveal  remarkable  progress 
along  all  lines  of  church  activity. 

BISHOP   ELLISON   CAPERS"   MEMORIAL   HALL 

From  the  inception  of  Bishop  Capers'  episcopate  he  took 
a  most  loyal  and  sympathetic  interest  in  the  Church  Home 
and  Orphanage.  In  the  course  of  the  second  address  he  de- 
livered to  the  Council  as  Bishop,  he  makes  this  reference: 

"The  Church  Home  and  Orphanage  lies  very  near  to  my 
heart.  I  feel  as  sure  as  I  can  feel  about  anything  in  the 
future,  that  if  this  diocese  will  do  its  full  duty  to  this  charity, 
God  will  pour  out  a  blessing  upon  us.  And  I  am  most  thank- 
ful to  say  to  you,  that  there  is  an  increasing  interest  shown 
by  the  diocese.  The  Thanksgiving  Day  offerings  this  pasi 
year  have  been  more  general,  and  in  the  aggregate  have  been 
larger.  But  why  is  it  that  our  rectors  and  missionaries  will  not 
organize  in  their  parishes  and  mission  branches  of  the  Church 
Orphanage  Association?    The  parish  at  Union  enjoys  the  dis- 


ELLISON  CAPERS  275 

tinction  of  being  the  only  parish  outside  of  Charleston  that 
maintains  a  'branch.'  If  you  would  cultivate  the  interests  of 
your  people,  organize  them,  and  train  them  through  such 
organizations  to  be  co-workers  with  Christ  and  His  Church  in 
feeding  and  shepherding  the  lambs  of  the  fold!" 

As  years  advanced  Bishop  Capers'  interest  in  the  Orphanage 
increased,  and  under  his  fostering  care  the  institution  strength- 
ened. After  his  death  the  Church  Home  was  moved  from 
Charleston.  South  Carolina,  to  Yorkville.  South  Carolina,  and 
the  institution  re-established  along  larger  and  more  efficient 
lines.  Bishop  Capers  loved  the  Orphanage  and  the  orphans. 
It  was  fitting,  therefore,  that  the  diocese  should  erect  to  his 
memory  the  Ellison  Capers  Memorial  Hall  as  a  part  of  that 
institution  and  as  the  diocese's  witness  to  his  work  for  the 
fatherless  and  aged. 

The  Capers  Memorial  Hall  cost  ten  thousand  dollars,  which 
amount  was  raised  by  public  subscription.  It  has  a  capacity 
for  accommodating  perhaps  fifty  orphan  children.  In  his 
address  at  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone  of  this  memorial  the 
Rev.  John  Kershaw.  D.  D..  the  orator  of  the  occasion,  said: 

"Perhaps  it  would  be  true  to  say  that  this  work  appealed 
more  to  his  great  and  loving  heart  than  any  other  institution 
in  the  diocese.  I  feel  sure  that  if  he  could  be  consulted  he 
would  give  to  this  undertaking  his  most  cordial  approval  and 
sanction.  I  feel  also  sure  that  if  in  his  present  resting-place 
he  is  permitted  to  know  w^hat  is  going  forward  here  to-day, 
he  rejoices  in  this  labor  of  love  that  testifies  that  he  has  not 
been  forgotten.  When  those  who  knew  him  in  the  flesh  have 
all  followed  him.  this  memorial  will  remain,  a  witness  of  his 
people's  love,  a  shelter  for  the  fatherless,  a  home  of  peace, 
wherein  the  love  of  God  is  shed  abroad,  a  sanctuary  redolent 
with  the  sweet  savor  of  prayer  and  praise.  May  it  abide  as  a 
visible  token  of  our  belief  in  the  communion  of  saints,  as  a 
constant  reminder  of  one  of  those  who  have  been  the  choice 
vessels  of  God's  grace  and  the  lights  of  the  world  in  their 
several  generations." 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

TRIBUTES  FROM  THE  EPISCOPATE 

The  diocese  of  Missouri  showed  her  profound  respect 
through  the  pen  of  Bishop  D.  S.  Tuttle,  the  presiding  Bishop 
of  the  Church : 

Sweet  reasonableness  is  an  engaging  element  in  the  make-up 
of  a  man's  character,  and  it  is  of  itself  a  force  of  persuasive- 
ness in  his  influence  among  his  fellowmen.  In  Bishop  Capers 
it  was  conspicuous.  The  look  of  his  eye  was  kindly.  The 
lighting  of  his  handsome  face  was  winning,  the  tone  of  his 
voice  was  gentle.  Not  but  that  there  was  also  strength  and 
resoluteness  in  his  make-up  to  fit  him  to  be  the  warrior  that 
he  was  upon  the  actual  field  of  battle.  But,  whatever  was 
his  iron  hand  of  power  to  use,  it  was  ever  unclothed  upon 
by  the  soft  velvet  of  thoughtful  consideration. 

Action  with  him  was  strong,  because  faith  was  strong  and 
devotion  to  duty  was  strong.  The  soldierly  virtues  shone 
in  him  gloriously,  but  the  gentleman  held  them  in  firm  grasp 
and  ever  used  them  to  help  and  not  to  hurt. 

His  influence  in  the  House  of  Bishops  grew  out  of  his 
lovely  and  noble  character;  unstinted  affection,  unlimited 
confidence,  and  unfailing  loyalty  of  comradeship  and  attach- 
ment were  accorded  him  by  all  its  members.  I  know  that  the 
late  Bishop  of  New  York,  Henry  C.  Potter,  statesman  that 
he  was,  held  him  in  high  esteem  and  looked  upon  him  as 
one  of  the  most  valuable  men  in  the  House  of  Bishops  in 
his  contributions  to  its  wisdom  of  counsel  and  action. 

I  saw  him  last  at  Columbia,  when  confinement  in  the  sick- 
room prevented  his  longed  for  presence  in  the  church  at  the 

276 


ELLISON  CAPERS  277 

consecration  of  his  coadjutor.     His  patience  and   Christian 
submission  and  sweet  cheer fuhiess  seemed  wonderful. 

Recalhng  the  tower  of  strength  that  he  had  been  for  years 
in  the  House  of  Bishops,  and  in  his  loved  diocese  of  South 
Carolina,  which  was  to  him  as  the  apple  of  his  eye,  I  could 
not  but  thank  God  for  his  earthly  life  about  which  now  the 
evening  shadows  were  falling,  and  thank  God  again  that  I 
had  known  him  and  been  helped  by  him,  the  brave  soldier, 
the  courteous  gentleman,  the  loved  and  trusted  leader  of  the 
hosts  of  Christ's  Church  Militant  here  on  earth. 

The  diocese  of  New  York  spoke  through  Bishop  Potter  in 
these  words : 

It  casts  a  somber  light  upon  the  Church,  not  alone  in  South 
Carolina  but  throughout  the  United  States,  to  learn,  as  we 
have  done  in  New  York  of  late,  of  the  death  of  our  dear 
friend  Bishop  Capers. 

He  became  endeared  to  some  of  us  for  the  first  time  in 
connection  with  the  General  Convention  of  190T,  which  sat, 
as  will  be  remembered,  in  San  Francisco,  and  the  writer  was 
privileged  then  to  enjoy  his  society  as  his  guest  in  the  house 
which  dear  friends  in  San  Francisco  had  placed  at  his  disposal. 

No  one  under  that  roof  at  that  time  will  ever  forget  those 
liappy  days,  nor  the  sweet  and  gracious  influence  of  that  rare 
personality  which  was  incarnated  in  the  late  Bishop  of  South 
Carolina:. 

It  is  not  given  to  all  men  to  be  enriched  by  various  contacts 
and  services.  They  select  them  with  courage,  and  discharge 
them  with  fidelity;  but  are  often  wont  to  be  hardened  by  the 
variety  of  responsibilties  and  of  service  which  have  come  to 
them.  But  in  Bishop  Capers'  case  it  was  impossible  to  be- 
lieve that  he  had  ever  touched  life  at  any  point  without  draw- 
ing from  it  something  which  made  his  own  character,  and  in 
the  episcopate  his  high  ministry,  of  greater  beauty,  dignity, 
self-sacrifice,  and  gracious  comprehension. 


278  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

Those  of  us  who  are  Northern  men  and  women  felt  this 
perhaps  most  keenly  in  connection  with  his  relation  to  that 
wider  life  which  is  the  life  of  the  republic  as  distinguished 
from  the  life  of  the  family,  or  the  Church,  or  even  the  State. 
Bishop  Capers  was  a  born  statesman.  He  had  a  genius  for 
seeing  the  other  side  of  things — the  political  problems,  the 
moral  emergencies,  and  other  ecclesiastical  tasks  than  his 
own;  and  in  the  House  of  Bishops  illustrated  a  breadth  of 
vision,  a  fine  serenity  of  temper,  and  a  most  gracious  and  win- 
ning spirit  which  endeared  him  to  all  who  knew  him. 

The  writer  of  these  lines  cannot  venture  to  trust  himself 
to  speak  of  what  Bishop  Capers  came  to  be  to  him  in  their 
personal  relations.  But  the  beautiful  quality  in  his  speech, 
in  his  every  act,  in  relations  with  all  sorts  and  conditions  of 
men,  which  made  one  sensible  at  once  that  he  was  truly  human 
in  his  sympathies  and  as  divine  in  his  standards,  will  always 
live  as  a  gracious  and  benignant  inspiration. 

The  diocese  of  South  Carolina  must  needs  mourn,  and 
the  whole  Church  mourns  with  it. 

From  Boston,  Mass.,  came  this  tribute  from  Bishop  Wil- 
liam Lawrence : 

Office  of  the  Bishop, — Boston 

Bishop  Capers  had  a  rather  unique  position  in  the  esteem 
of  the  bishops,  certainly  of  many  of  them.  We  North- 
ern bishops,  at  all  events,  and  I  assume  also  the  Southern 
bishops,  looked  upon  him  as  a  typical  Southern  gentleman 
of  the  best  sort.  He  had  done  excellent  service  in  the  War. 
He  had  accepted  defeat  in  fine  spirit,  and  had  thrown  in  his 
interests  loyally  with  the  national  Government. 

He  was  a  man  of  wide  experience.  He  had  a  right,  there- 
fore, to  assume  a  position  and  authority  superior  to  most 
men.  On  the  contrary,  he  was  one  of  the  most  modest,  sensi- 
tive, self-effacing  men  that  I  ever  knew.  He  did  not  have 
that   form  of   self-effacement   which   enables  you   to    forget 


ELLISON  CAPERS  279 

him  or  to  count  him  for  nothing.  On  the  contrary,  one  al- 
ways felt  his  presence  and  his  force  of  character;  and  after 
all  the  others  had  spoken,  one  turned  to  him  with  the  convic- 
tion that  he  had  something  to  say,  if  he  would  only  say  it, 
which  would  add  wisdom  to  the  discussion. 

I  had  the  great  pleasure  of  sitting  beside  him  during  the 
three  weeks  of  one  convention,  I  think  it  was  in  \A^ashington. 
I  said  to  him  again  and  again,  "Bishop,  why  don't  you  speak 
up?  You  know  more  about  the  subject  than  some  of  those 
who  are  talking."  He  either  modestly  deprecated  my  request, 
or  said,  "AVait,  and  before  they  get  through  they  will  proba- 
bly say  everything  that  I  would  have  said."  When,  however, 
he  did  speak,  and  it  was  not  frequently,  all  the  bishops  listened 
intently,  appreciating  not  only  the  beauty  and  dignity  of  his 
character,  but  the  worth  of  what  he  had  to  say. 

It  was  always  interesting  to  me  to  note  how  he  would  in 
the  presence  of  any  company  seem  at  first  to  be  a  bit 
out  of  his  element,  or  at  all  events  in  the  background;  but 
after  a  while  it  was  felt  by  all  that  he  was  there,  and  in 
time,  in  a  perfectly  quiet  and  unassuming  way,  he  would  have 
found  his  position  in  the  center  of  a  group  who  turned  to 
him  with  interest  and  affection,  for  there  was  a  charm  to  his 
talk  and  manner  that  won  affection  as  well  as  confidence. 

There  was  always  about  him,  too,  a  play  of  quiet  humor.  I 
remember  one  day  when  the  nominations  for  missionary  bishops 
were  in  order  and  one  bishop  after  another  had  recounted  the 
excellent  qualities  of  the  man  whom  he  was  nominating.  Bishop 
Capers  turned  to  me  and  said,  "Bishop,  what  becomes  of  all 
these  paragons  that  are  always  brought  before  us  in  nomina- 
tion? Some  of  them  must  get  into  this  House,  but  we  are 
rather  a  commonplace  company.  What  becomes  of  the 
paragons?" 

He  also  had  this  grace.  He  was  an  Evangelical  through 
and  through  in  his  theology  and  temperament,  but  there  was 
no  sharpness  of  theological  line  or  party  spirit  in  his  make-up. 

Bishop  Potter  of  New  York  took  great  pleasure  in  his  com- 


28o  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

pany  and  great  satisfaction  in  having  him  move  about  the  dio- 
cese holding  confirmations.  As  he  said  to  me  once  himself, 
"Capers  is  such  a  gentleman,  a  type  of  Southern  chivalry,  that 
it  does  the  New^  York  people  good  to  have  him  about." 

From  Albany,  New  York,  came  the  tribute  of  Bishop  Wil- 
liam C.  Doan,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  D.  C.  L. : 

Anything  connected  with  Bishop  Capers'  memory  is  very 
welcome  and  very  attractive  to  me. 

He  was  not  much  given  to  taking  any  part  in  the  discussions 
of  the  House,  yet  he  had  that  infinite  attractiveness  which  made 
everyone  feel  that  his  presence  there  was  in  itself  a  benediction. 

He  and  I  were  always  in  entire  accord,  and  I  had  a  very  real 
love  for  him.  Certainly  his  influence  was  "a  harmonizing  in- 
fluence." My  association  with  him  is  one  of  the  dearest  and 
most  delightful  recollections  of  my  long  presence  in  the  House 
of  Bishops. 

TRIBUTE  FROM   BISHOP  GUERRY  OF  SOUTH   CAROLINA 

Walking  recently  through  St.  Michael's  churchyard, 
Charleston,  with  a  very  dear  friend,  we  came  to  a  monument 
which  was  a  broken  column  with  a  wreath  attached.  My 
companion  asked  me  what  was  the  significance  of  the  broken 
column,  to  which  I  replied  that  it  meant  that  the  career  of 
the  man  whom  it  commemorated  had  been  cut  short. 

No  such  monument  would  be  fitting  if  erected  over  the 
grave  of  Bishop  Capers.  His  life  was  complete — the  most 
complete,  the  most  useful  in  the  broadest  and  highest  sense, 
that  I  have  ever  known.  It  is  difficult  to  conceive  how  his 
field  of  service  could  have  been  enlarged  or  what  higher 
honors  his  Church  and  his  grateful  countrymen  could  have 
bestowed  upon  him. 

An  assistant  professor  in  the  South  Carolina  Military 
Academy,  a  brigadier  general  in  the  Confederate  army,  for 


ELLISON  CAPERS  281 

a  short  time  Secretary  of  State,  afterward  priest  and  bishop 
in  the  Church  of  God,  and  for  the  last  five  years  of  his  Hfe 
Chancellor  of  the  University  of  the  South  at  Sewanee,  Tenn., 
it  has  been  given  to  few  men  to  have  touched  so  many  sides 
of  a  people's  life  and  to  possess  the  qualities  of  mind  and 
heart  which  made  him  eminently  successful  in  them  all. 

It  is  this  fullness  of  life,  this  all-roundness  of  character, 
this  many-sidedness  of  service,  that  impresses  one  most  when 
viewing  the  life  and  career  of  Bishop  Capers. 

His  life  was  complete  so  far  as  this  world  could  make  it 
so.  Our  Father  has  added  to  its  richness  and  its  joy  by  call- 
ing His  servant  to  still  higher  forms  of  service  and  blessed- 
ness in  the  Paradise  of  God. 

Phillips  Brooks  once  said  that  he  believed  that  after  death 
he  would  continue  to  preach  the  glorious  gospel  of  Jesus 
Christ  to  those  who  in  this  life  had  had  small  opportunity  of 
hearing  it. 

And  it  may  be  said  that  our  great-hearted  bishop  is  still 
exercising  that  ministry  of  love  and  reconciliation  which  was 
his  joy  and  happiness  here. 

There  is  one  other  characteristic  of  the  Bishop's  life  of 
which  I  desire  to  make  special  mention,  and  that  is  his  power 
of  growth  and  development.  It  so  frequently  happens  that 
when  a  man  has  passed  the  prime  of  life  he  shows  a  strange 
inability  to  take  on  new  ideas  or  to  adapt  himself  to  new 
conditions.  He  becomes  unprogressive  and  stereotyped.  But 
such  was  not  the  case  with  Bishop  Capers.  He  was  a  grow- 
ing man,  spiritually  and  intellectually,  in  each  new  field  of 
service  to  which,  in  the  providence  of  God,  he  was  called. 

As  rector  of  Trinity  Church,  Columbia,  and  afterward  as 
bishop  of  the  diocese,  he  was  distinctly  a  stronger  and  abler 
man  than  when  he  was  a  parish  priest  in  Greenville,  S.  C. 
His  powers  of  mind  and  heart  increased  with  his  years  and 
with  his  responsibilities.  The  Master  made  him  a  larger 
man  and  then  gave  him  that  larger  truth  of  which  his  enlarged 
faith  had  made  him  capable. 


282  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

Others  have  said  that  his  greatest  work  as  bishop  was  to 
have  reunited  a  divided  diocese  and  to  have  restored  peace 
and  harmony  to  the  family  of  God.  But  his  great  work 
of  love  and  reconciliation  did  not  end  with  this,  of  his  own 
Church.  We  venture  to  think  that  South  Carolina  has  never 
had  a  bishop  who  has  done  more  to  break  down  prejudice 
against  the  Episcopal  Church  and  to  commend  it  to  the  fav- 
orable consideration  of  all  men  than  Bishop  Capers.  He  con- 
ceived of  his  ministry  as  including  all  men — white  and  black, 
rich  and  poor,  dissenter  and  Churchman — in  the  one  Body 
of  Christ.  More  people  in  South  Carolina  could  say  of  him 
when  they  met  him,  "This  is  my  bishop,"  than  of  any  other 
bishop  that  South  Carolina  has  ever  produced.  He  was  not 
the  bishop  of  a  few  Episcopalians,  but  of  the  Catholic  Church, 
which  includes  among  its  members  all  who  have  been  baptized 
with  water  in  the  name  of  the  Trinity.  To  me  the  greatest 
legacy  he  has  left  the  Church  in  South  Carolina  in  his  catholic- 
minded  spirit,  his  freedom  from  narrowness,  and  his  large- 
hearted  charity.  And  yet  Bishop  Capers  was  far  from  being 
what  men  call  a  "Low  Churchman."  He  was  a  loyal  son 
of  the  Church.  He  believed  in  her  divine  mission  and  au- 
thority. He  was  tolerant  not  from  lack  of  conviction,  but 
because  he  was  sure  of  his  own  position  and  of  the  truth  of 
the  Church's  claims.  He  believed  that  the  Episcopal  Church 
had  a  great  mission  to  fulfill  to  all  people  of  every  class  and 
race  and  station.  He  has  outlined  a  policy  and  an  attitude 
toward  our  separated  brethren  which  we  would  do  well  to 
follow.  He  has  laid  foundations  upon  which  we  who  come 
after  can  safely  build. 

"May  light  perpetual  shine  upon  him."  May  the  peace 
of  God  be  his,  and  may  we  with  him  and  all  others  who  have 
departed  this  life  in  the  faith  of  Christ  have  our  perfect 
consummation  and  bliss,  both  in  body  and  soul,  in  God's 
eternal  and  everlasting  Kingdom. 

The  diocese  of  Tennessee  voiced  her  sentiments  through  this 


ELLISON  CAPERS  283 

expression  of  Bishop  Gailor,  who  succeeded  Bishop  Capers  as 
chancellor  of  the  University  of  the  South : 

I  first  met  Bishop  Capers  at  the  General  Convention  in  Bal- 
timore in  1892.  He  was  then  rector  of  Trinity  Church, 
Columbia,  and  in  the  full  vigor  of  his  splendid  manhood.  I 
was  impressed  immediately  by  his  commanding  presence,  his 
dignified  but  most  gracious  courtesy,  and,  above  all,  by  the 
simple  directness  of  his  Christian  character. 

We  were  consecrated  bishops-coadjutor  the  same  year, 
1893,  and  together  we  were  introduced  to  the  House  of 
Bishops  at  the  General  Convention  in  Minneapolis,  1895.  For 
twelve  years  thereafter  it  was  my  privilege  to  know  him  inti- 
mately and  to  be  blessed  with  his  unreserved  confidence  and 
affection.  I  write  about  him  now  out  of  a  full  heart,  for 
we  took  sweet  counsel  together  and  walked  in  the  house  of 
God  as  friends. 

I  have  never  seen,  and  never  expect  to  see,  a  truer  Chris- 
tian or  a  finer  gentleman  than  Bishop  Ellison  Capers. 

With  all  his  playful  fancy,  joyous  and  compelling  humor, 
he  never  forgot — he  never  let  anyone  forget — whose  servant 
he  was  and  whose  grace  it  was  that  made  him  stand. 

It  was  his  living,  quickening  faith  that  endowed  him  with 
the  charm  and  buoyancy  of  perpetual  youth.  It  was  the 
divine  love  that  filled  his  heart  and  expressed  itself  in  un- 
studied courtesy  and  exquisite  refinement  of  thought  and  teel- 
ing,  so  that  his  "strength  was  gentle  and  his  gentleness  was 
strong." 

Too  often  perhaps  he  depreciated  his  own  powers  in  a 
spirit  of  humility  most  wonderful  in  one  who  had  been  per- 
mitted to  win  such  high  honor  as  a  soldier  on  many  bloody 
fields  and  afterward  in  the  councils  of  the  Church.  But  those 
who  knew  him  revered  his  judgment  and  admired  the  clear- 
ness of  his  intellectual  vision  and  the  force  and  beauty  of 
his  eloquence,  while  they  delighted  in  his  conversation  and 
rejoiced  in  his  love. 


284  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

For  he  was  a  great  soul,  a  noble  apostle,  a  servant  of 
Jesus  Christ. 

Bishop  Edwin  G.  Weed,  bishop  of  the  diocese  of  Florida, 
paid  the  following  affectionate  and  beautiful  tribute  to  the 
memory  of  Bishop  Capers : 

In  the  passing  of  Bishop  Capers  from  a  life  on  this  earth 
to  a  life  closer  to  the  Master,  the  Church  has  lost  one  of 
her  wisest  and  most  honored  leaders.  Accustomed  to  com- 
mand almost  from  his  youth,  we  might  have  expected  Bishop 
Capers  to  display  more  of  the  military  disposition  in  his 
leadership,  but  the  teaching  of  the  Master  took  deep  root  in 
his  soul.  He  seemed  ever  to  have  in  mind  those  memorable 
words,  "Whosoever  of  you  will  be  chiefest  shall  be  servant 
of  all.  For  even  the  Son  of  Man  came  not  to  be  ministered 
unto,  but  to  minister  and  give  his  life  a  ransom  for  many." 

He  did  not  give  startling  commands;  rather  he  found  a 
way  which  his  followers  could  easily  take.  Possessing  a  rare 
perception  of  the  capacities  of  men,  he  never  attempted  im- 
possibilities, but  developed  the  latent  strength  and  powers  of 
those  around  him  and  made  the  best  use  of  individuals. 

Like  the  Master,  he  possessed  a  strange  attractive  power. 
Wherever  he  went,  he  drew  men  unto  him.  They  might  dis- 
agree with  him,  might  underrate  his  ability,  but  once  in  his 
presence  they  felt  his  power  and  found  themselves  ready  to 
obey  his  wishes. 

I  shall  never  forget  the  time  when  it  became  necessary 
to  select  a  strong  man,  of  strong  personality  and  of  winning 
manner,  to  push  forward  a  purpose  which  seemed  vital  to 
one  of  our  committees  in  the  General  Convention  which  con- 
vened at  Minneapolis,  1895.  Bishop  Capers  had  not  been  in  the 
episcopate  long,  only  a  few  months,  and  it  was  his  first  attend- 
ance upon  the  meetings  of  the  committee.  The  other  members 
of  the  committee  scarcely  knew  him,  but  such  was  his  impres- 
sion, I  found  their  short  acquaintance  had  led  them  to  a  true 


ELLISON  CAPERS  285 

estimate  of  his  character,  and  every  member  with  one  voice 
asked  him  to  undertake  the  mission.  It  is  needless  to  say  he 
wiUingly  undertook  the  task  anrl  accomphshed  tlic  purpose 
we  were  anxious  to  carry  out. 

There  was  something:;'  about  Bishop  Capers  which  made 
everyone  who  came  in  contact  with  him  for  any  length  of 
time  to  think  about  the  Master.  T  am  sure  many  will  bear 
testimony  with  nic  thai  ho  brought  out  by  his  life,  manner, 
and  words  many  features  of  our  Lord's  life  which  had  been 
only  faintly  realized. 

His  brightness  and  cheerfulness  made  us  understand  the 
Lord's  presence  at  the  wedding  feast  and  the  feast  of  Levi. 
When  we  saw  his  intense  sympathy  for  suffering  humanity 
we  could  easily  appreciate  the  Lord's  long  journey  to  com- 
fort Mary  and  I\Tartha.  Loving  souls  with  a  true  love,  he 
was  firm  and  unyielding  when  sin  stood  in  the  way.  but  was 
always  ready  to  spend  and  be  spent  to  lift  up  one  individual. 
His  life,  like  the  ATastcr's,  was  a  constructive  life.  There 
was  nothing  negative  or  destructive  about  it. 

The  purpose  of  his  life  was  to  do  good. 

May  his  soul  rest  in  peace,  is  the  prayer  of  one  who  mourns 
his  loss. 

Speaking  f(^r  North  Carolina,  Bishop  J.  B.  Cheshire  wrote: 

We  have  lost  one  of  our  nearest  neighbors  among  the 
bishops  of  the  Church,  the  Right  Reverend  Ellison  Capers, 
Bishop  of   South   Carolina. 

I  v\'as  able  to  attend  his  funeral,  as  a  very  inadequate  ex- 
pression of  the  respect  and  affection  I  had  learned  to  feel  for 
him  during  an  ac(iuaintance  of  nearly  twenty  years.  T  have 
seldom  known  so  beatitiful  and  attractive  a  personality  or 
so  pure  and  exalted  a  character.  For  most  of  us  it  is  a  hard 
struggle  to  gain  even  a  little  inward  grace  to  subdue  the 
grosser  elements  of  our  mortal  nature,  and  we  must  trust  to 
the  charity  and  forbearance  of  our  brethren  in  judging  our 


286  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

best  qualities  and  endeavors.  With  him,  the  inward  grace 
seemed  so  perfectly  to  have  accomplished  its  work  in  the 
heart  and  spirit  that  its  life  and  warmth  could  not  be  confined, 
but  must  shine  out  upon  all  around.  A  singularly  successful 
and  happy  life  was  his,  and  all  who  came  even  into  casual 
contact  with  him  had  part  in  its  success  and  happiness. 

He  was  one  of  the  youngest  generals  in  the  Confederate 
arm3\  and  soon  after  the  war  was  made  Secretary  of  State 
of  South  Carolina.  Abandoning  political  life,  he  devoted 
himself  to  the  work  of  the  ministry,  and  as  deacon,  presbyter, 
and  bishop  commanded  universal  love  and  respect.  There 
has  been  no  public  man  in  South  Carolina  since  the  war  who 
has  enjoyed  through  his  whole  life  up  to  the  day  of  his  death 
such  universal  popular  confidence  and  afifection. 

His  personality  was  a  distinct  and  valuable  asset  in  the 
resources  of  the  Church  in  that  State.  As  a  bishop  he  was 
faithful,  diligent,  full  of  love  for  his  people,  for  his  work, 
for  his  brethren.  We  who  knew  him  feel  that  we  have  known 
very  few  like  him ;  and  in  the  knowledge  that  such  characters 
can  be  produced  out  of  our  human  nature  by  divine  grace  we 
thank  God  and  take  courage." 

The  following  from  the  Bishop  of  Atlanta,  the  Rt.  Rev. 
C.  K.  Nelson,  D.  D.,  indicates  the  sympathy  the  Church  in 
Georgia  felt  for  South  Carolina  in  her  loss : 

My  first  acquaintance  with  Bishop  Capers  occurred  on  a 
visit  to  South  Carolina  in  aid  of  Bishop  Howe  in  the  fall  of 
1892,  in  calling  upon  him  while  rector  of  Trinity  Church, 
Columbia. 

The  delightful  first  impression  created,  increased  with  every 
meeting  in  private  or  in  public.  His  bonhomie  was  a  char- 
acteristic which  never  failed  him.  and  this  quality  was  more 
marked  in  him  than  in  any  man  that  I  ever  met.  Brotherly 
kindness  and  charity  were  in  him,  the  most  perfectly  developed 
Christian  traits.  In  council,  whether  on  the  floor  or  in  the  chair. 


ELLISON  CAPERS  287 

one  could  not  fail  to  mark  his  unvarying  courtesy,  his  perfect 
fairness,  and  his  subordination  of  himself  to  the  business  and 
interests  which  he  served.  Not  only  could  not  bitterness  exist 
where  he  was  present,  but  his  voice,  his  manner,  his  action, 
his  whole  attitude  in  deliberation,  combined  conciliation  with 
fearlessness. 

"Love  as  brethren,"  may  be  said  to  be  the  text  of  his  life. 

In  the  House  of  Bishops,  of  which  he  was  a  distinguished 
member,  his  influence  was  felt  from  the  moment  of  his  ap- 
pearance with  us.  No  partisanship  ever  sullied  his  argument ; 
no  selfishness  could  be  traced  in  his  motives,  and  the  good  of 
the  whole  Church,  the  benefit  of  humanity,  and  the  infusion 
of  the  Christ  spirit  were  his  study  and  delight. 

The  real  source  of  his  power  and  influence  was  his  manli- 
ness preserved  in  studious  imitation  of  his  Divine  Lord  and 
Master. 

See  House, 
New  Orleans,  La. 
My  Dear  Brother: 

I  was  glad  to  hear  that  you  are  to  write  a  life  of  your 
dear  father,  and  I  wish  you  the  fullest  success.  It  would 
give  me  great  pleasure  to  sen-e  you,  if  I  could  do  so;  but  I 
regret  that  I  have  no  reminiscences  of  special  facts  or  details 
that  could  add  to  your  material.  I  deeply  prized  your  father's 
friendship,  and  warmly  reciprocated  it.  He  was  one  of  the 
most  lovable  men  I  have  ever  known.  His  personality  pos- 
sessed a  rare  charm  and  magnetism. 

He  had  the  sweetness  of  a  beautiful  spirit;  the  serenity 
of  a  deep  personal  religion;  the  strength  of  a  most  knightly 
and  consecrated  manhood.  As  gentle  and  strong,  he  held 
his  own  convictions  with  considerate  fairness  and  noble 
patience  toward  others. 

Fearless  and  humble  alike,  companionship  with  him  was 
a  delight;  besides  his  gift  of  calm  judgment,  he  had  the  wisdom 
of  vision  which  is  born  of  goodness.  With  an  experience 
of  human  nature  won  on  fields  of  service  very  diverse,  yet 


288  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

alike  calling  for  the  lofty  chivalry  of  unselfish  courage  and 
utmost  self-sacrifice,  he  truly  fought  a  good  fight. 

He  loved  men,  and  longed  to  be  a  helper;  and  I  thank 
God  for  the  privilege  of  having  known  this  gallant  and 
tender  soul.  He  was  sincerely  revered  among  his  brethren; 
and  in  their  affectionate  memories  of  him  they  will  think  of 
his  persuasiveness,  of  his  fragrant  and  beautiful  loyalty  to 
Christ  his  King,  and  of  a  personality  richly  dowered  with 
sweet  and  compelling  graces. 

I  shall  always  cherish  his  name  with  reverent  admiration. 

Again  wishing  you  a  highly  successful  accomplishment  of 
the  grateful  task  you  have  undertaken,  and  with  cordial  greet- 
ings, 

I  am  sincerely  yours, 

David  Sessums. 


CHAPTER  XXV 

TRIBUTES   FROM   THE   CLERGY 

This  chapter  and  the  one  immediately  following  comprise  a 
portion  of  the  tributes  of  respect  and  honor  paid  to  the  de- 
ceased Bishop  Capers  by  clergy,  laymen,  and  the  press. 

PREAMBLE    AND    RESOLUTIONS    ADOPTED    BY    THE    COUNCIL    OF 
THE  DIOCESE  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA 

Immediately  after  the  funeral  of  our  late  Bishop,  at  a  meet- 
ing of  the  clergy  and  laity  Bishop  Guerry  appointed  a  com- 
mittee to  prepare  resolutions  on  the  death  of  Bishop  Capers 
and  report  to  the  Annual  Council.  The  committee,  consisting  of 
Rev.  W.  B.  Gordon,  Rev.  John  Kershaw,  D.  D.,  Rev.  A.  R. 
Mitchell,  Rev.  W.  P.  Witsell.  and  Messrs.  R.  W.  Shand,  P. 
T.  Hayne,  R.  I.  Manning,  and  T.  W.  Bacot,  reported  the 
following  resolutions,  which  were  unanimously  adopted  by 
the  Council : 

The  Church  in  South  Carolina  mourns  the  prince  and  great 
man  that  has  recently  fallen  in  our  Israel.  For  well-nigh 
fifteen  years  the  Right  Reverend  Ellison  Capers,  doctor  of 
divinity  and  bishop  of  this  diocese,  was  to  all  the  flock  of 
Christ  therein  a  loving  and  faithful  chief  shepherd  and  a 
true  father  in  God  to  the  under-shepherds,  his  clergy.  Elected 
at  the  Council  of  1893  ^"d  consecrated  20th  July  of  the 
same  year,  he  served  the  Church  to  the  end  with  earnestness, 
ability,  and  wisdom,  bringing  to  the  work  a  mind  well  stored 
wath  the  teachings  of  God's  Holy  Word,  a  heart  full  of  gener- 
ous love  for  all  mankind,  and  a  personality  of  rare  charm 
and  attractiveness.     The  soldierly  qualities  that  had  brought 

289 


290  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

him  merited  distinction  in  the  war  for  Southern  independence, 
and  that  had  endeared  him  to  the  people  of  the  State  irre- 
spective of  ecclesiastical  affiliations,  and  the  patriotic  devo- 
tions he  had  shown  in  serving  South  Carolina  in  peace  as  well 
as  in  war,  continued  to  characterize  him  as  a  good  soldier  of 
Jesus  Christ  and  as  a  faithful  servant  of  his  Church,  while 
his  broad  sympathies,  extending  to  and  covering  men  of  every 
ecclesiastical  name,  and  even  of  no  name,  drew  to  him  the 
hearts  of  all,  making  him  in  many  respects  the  State's  first 
citizen  as  well  as  the  Church's  chief  officer.  When  not  quite 
a  year  ago  he  was  stricken  down,  there  was,  throughout  the 
State,  an  universal  expression  of  profound  and  sympathetic 
regret,  and  from  the  hearts  and  lips  of  great  multitudes  assem- 
bled in  the  houses  of  God  and  about  the  family  altar  ascended 
prayers  and  supplications  to  the  one  Father  of  all  on  his  be- 
half. The  progress  of  his  illness  was  followed  throughout 
by  an  interest  and  affection  that  was  restrained  and  unobtru- 
sive, but  nevertheless  strong  and  unfailing,  when,  on  the 
22d  day  of  April,  he  breathed  his  last  the  hearts  of  all  his 
fellow-citizens  were  bowed  as  the  heart  of  one  man,  in  un- 
affected grief. 

None  could  have  witnessed  the  great  throngs  that  attended 
his  funeral  services  and  stood  about  his  grave,  bearing  in  their 
beautiful  floral  tributes  and  on  their  faces  the  marks  of  deep 
and  sincere  sorrow,  without  realizing  that  he  had  indeed  in- 
spired and  awakened  in  many  hearts  the  divine  grace  of  love, 
and  that  they  felt  that  in  him  they  had  lost,  not  alone  their 
bishop,  but  their  friend.  But  far  beyond  the  bounds  of  his 
native  State  and  diocese  had  his  influence  extended  and  his 
winning  personality  drawn  men  to  him.  His  brother  bishops 
loved,  admired,  and  sought  him.  He  was  always  listened  to 
by  them  with  marked  attention  and  sympathy;  they  valued 
his  counsel,  they  trusted  his  judgment,  they  relied  on  his 
sympathy.  Hailed  as  the  healer  of  dissensions  within  his  own 
diocese,  he  has  borne  the  character  of  mediator  in  other  and 


ELLISON  CAPERS  291 

larger  spheres,  winning  a  place  most  enviable  and  uncommon 
as  among  the  peace-makers,  whom  our  Lord  pronounced 
blessed  and  declared  that  they  should  be  called  the  children 
of  God. 

When  he  was  consecrated  to  his  high  office  it  was  asked  of 
him:  "Will  you  show  yourself  gentle,  and  be  merciful  for 
Christ's  sake  to  poor  and  needy  people,  and  to  all  strangers 
destitute  for  help?"  and  he  answered,  "I  will  so  show  myself 
by  God's  help."  So  open-handed  was  he  by  nature,  and  so 
much  more  so  by  grace,  that  none  appealed  to  him  in  vain, 
the  w^orthy,  and  often,  doubtless,  the  unworthy  also,  for  he 
was  not  extreme  in  scrutinizing  the  justness  or  otherwise  of 
the  appeals  made,  but  quickly  let  fall  upon  them  and  those 
making  them  the  mantle  of  mercy  and  charity. 

Thus,  though  not  omitting  to  provide  for  those  nearest  and 
dearest  to  him,  he  employed  his  means  as  would  the  faithful 
steward  and  the  trusted  almoner  of  his  Master,  and  so  while 
in  his  case  the  question.  How  much  did  he  leave?  will  not 
be  asked,  yet  we  may  permit  ourselves  to  rejoice  in  that  he 
laid  up  treasure  in  heaven  and  left  to  his  own  family,  and  to 
that  larger  family  that  we  represent,  the  riches  that  flow  from 
the  answer  of  a  good  conscience  toward  God  and  the  large 
legacv  of  an  example  full  of  inspiration  and  inciting  to  noble 
emulation.  A  life  so  rich  in  its  powder  to  help  and  uplift,  so 
rare  in  its  qualities  of  unselfishness,  courage,  faith,  patience, 
and  generous  sympathy,  should  not  be  permitted  to  pass  un- 
sisrnalized ;  rather  should  a  memorial  be  erected  to  our  beloved 
chief  pastor,  the  seventh  in  the  succession  of  South  Carolina's 
bishops,  that  shall  perpetuate  his  name  and  character  in  a 
manner  w^orthy  of  him.  and  of  the  State  and  diocese  that  are 
so  greatly  his  debtors ;  therefore. 

Resolved,  That  in  the  life  of  Bishop  Capers  the  Church  in 
South  Carolina  has  much  for  which  to  be  thankful,  and  in  his 
death  much  for  which  to  sorrow,  yet  not  as  those  who  have 
no  hope,  but  as  those  who,  with  confidence,  look  for  the  gen- 


292  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

eral  resurrection  in  the  last  day,  and  the  life  of  the  world 
to  come  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  bowing  with  filial  sub- 
mission to  the  will  of  our  Heavenly  Father,  who  has  called 
for  his  faithful  soldier  and  servant  from  the  labor  and  war- 
fare of  the  Church  Militant  to  enter  that  rest  that  remameth 
for  the  children  of  God. 

Resolved,  That  a  suitable  memorial  of  him  be  undertaken 
by  the  Church  in  this  diocese,  its  exact  form  to  be  decided 
after  proper  deliberation,  that  shall  in  some  measure  be  ex- 
pressive of  our  appreciation  of  his  life,  character,  and  services. 

Resolved,  That  a  page  of  the  Journal  of  this  Council  be 
appropriately  inscribed  to  his  memory. 

Resolved,  That  his  successor  in  office  be  requested  to  convey 
to  Mrs.  Capers  and  the  other  members  of  his  family  the  pro- 
found sympathies  of  the  clergy  and  laity  of  the  diocese  in  their 
sorrow. 

TRIBUTE   FROM    EAST    CAROLINA 

Resolved,  That  the  Convocation  of  Edenton,  Diocese  of  East 
Carolina,  assembled  in  St.  Peter's  Church,  Washington,  N.  C, 
has  learned  with  profound  sorrow  of  the  death  of  the  Rt.  Rev. 
Ellison  Capers,  D.  D.,  Bishop  of  the  Diocese  of  South 
Carolina. 

We  record  our  appreciation  and  remembrance  of  his  visita- 
tion to  our  several  parishes  during  the  disability  of  our 
beloved  Bishop  Watson.  Truly  a  beloved  and  saintly  man 
has  been  called  to  his  reward,  and  we  devoutly  thank  God  for 
his  life  and  example,  as  well  as  extend  to  his  bereaved  ones 
our  sincere  sympathy. 

Charles  D.   Malone, 
Nathaniel   Harding, 

Committee. 


ELLISON  CAPERS  293 

EDITORIAL    FROM    "tHE    DIOCESE/'    MEMORIAL    EDITION, 

MAY,    1908. 

In  these  very  columns  we  have  set  forth  the  splendid  re- 
sults of  the  episcopate  of  this  noble  prince  of  the  Church. 
There  is  no  need  to  repeat  now  what  has  been  so  recently 
written  for  these  columns,  and  more  recently  quoted  in  the 
daily  papers  of  the  State.  But  we  do  desire  to  call  attention 
here  to  some  of  the  characteristics  that  made  Bishop  Capers 
an  intrinsically  and  really  great  man.  We  knew  him  inti- 
mately— almost  as  a  son  knows  a  father.  We  feel  that  we  can 
write  what  we  do  know  in  this  matter.  And  we  would  say, 
first,  that  Bishop  Capers  was  an  absolutely  genuine  man. 
There  was  no  pretentiousness  about  him,  and  all  double- 
dealing  and  hypocrisy  were  hateful  to  him.  He  "best  seemed 
the  thing  he  was."  His  noble  sincerity  of  soul  and  beautiful 
simplicity  of  character  and  manner  won  all  hearts,  and  gave 
him,  like  his  Master,  a  strange  attractive  power. 

Second,  we  would  say,  that  the  Bishop  was  not  only  trans- 
parently genuine,  but  also  unaffectedly  human.  He  ever  felt 
himself  a  brother  of  all  men,  and  was  never  out  of  tune  with 
any  of  the  varying  strings  of  the  harp  of  true  human  life. 
He  was  always  keenly  interested  in  all  that  pertained  to  the 
welfare  of  his  fellows,  in  the  sphere  of  the  home,  the  State, 
or  the  Church.  It  often  happens  that  separation  from  one's 
fellows  by  circumstances  of  office,  rank,  and  station  puts  the 
heart  out  of  touch  with  the  feelings,  hopes,  and  aspirations 
of  the  ordinary  man;  but  never  was  this  true  of  him  of  whom 
we  now  write. 

And  like  all  men  who  are  essentially  noble,  he  was  humble 
of  heart.     For  without 

"True  humility,  the  highest  virtue,  mother  of  them  all," 

no  one  can  be  great  in  his  personality.  Certain  it  was  that 
he  never  thought  of  himself  more  highly  than  he  ought  to 
have  thought,  but  rather  did  he  "esteem  himself  lowly  in  his 


294  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

own  eyes."  Or,  perhaps,  it  would  be  more  true  to  say  that  he 
scarcely  thought  of  himself  at  all,  but  only  of  his  God,  his 
Saviour,  and  his  fellow-men  and  what  he  could  do  for  them. 

As  illustrative  of  this  characteristic,  we  quote  here  the  last 
words  we  ever  heard  him  say,  spoken  about  twenty  hours  be- 
fore his  death : 

"Well,  Witsell,  I  am  sorry  that  I  could  not  do  more  for  the 
Church.  I  have  not  done  much,  but  I  have  done  the  best 
that  I  could."  How  like  the  holy  and  humble  man  of  heart 
that  he  was !  The  reply  was :  "Ah,  dear  Bishop,  you  have 
done  a  noble  work,  a  great  work,  and  your  brethren  thank 
God  for  you  and  your  work." 

Yes,  he  was  absolutely  genuine,  lovabl}'^  human,  beautifully 
humble,  and  also  always  and  heartily  faithful.  In  the  splendid 
sermon  published  elsewhere  in  this  issue  the  Bishop  greatly 
exalts  this  virtue,  and  thereby  gives  to  us  one  of  the  secrets  of 
his  glorious  career.  He  carried  a  faithful  and  true  heart  into 
every  state  of  life  to  which  it  pleased  God  to  call  him. 

Any  analysis  of  the  personality  of  our  late  Bishop  that  did 
not  reveal  him  as  a  man  of  love  would  be  exceedingly 
defective. 

If  there  was  any  pre-eminence  among  the  virtues  of  his 
well-rounded,  full-orbed  character,  it  must  be  given  to  the 
spirit  of  love.     We  think  that  we  can  almost  hear  him  say: 

"But  this  it  was  that  made  me  move 
As   Hght   as  carrier  birds   in   air ; 
[   loved   the   weight   I   had   to  bear, 
Because  it  needed  help  of  love. 

"Nor  could  I  weary,  heart  or  limb 
When  mighty  love  would  cleave  in  twain 
The  lading  of  a  single  pain, 
And  part  it  giving  half  to  Him." 

It  was  not  then  to  be  wondered  at  that  he 'was  successful  as 
priest  and  bishop,  nor  it  is  to  be  wondered  at  that  men — his 


ELLISON  CAPERS  295 

soldiers,  his  fellow-citizens,  his  clergy,  and  his  brother  bishops 
— delig-hted  to  honor  him  and  to  give  him  of  their  love,  and 
felt  that  in  so  doing  both  love  and  honor  were  worthily  be- 
stowed. 

Here,  then,  is  the  imperfect  and  poorly  made  verbal  por- 
trait of  this  noble  man  and  splendid  bishop  as  he  was  in  him- 
self. Of  him  as  he  was  in  his  work  we  have  written  at  lenerth 
at  other  times.  Of  what  he  was  to  us  personally  we  cannot 
permit  ourself  to  write  here.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  we  regard 
it  as  one  of  the  richest  blessings  and  greatest  responsibilities 
of  our  life  that  we  should  have  had  the  confidence,  friendship, 
and  love  of  this  great  and  good  man.  He  was  more  than  a 
faithful  bishop  to  us- — he  was  also  a  true  and  fatherly  friend. 
And  we  heartily  thank  God  that  through  His  Son  Jesus  Christ 
we  can  go  on  loving  him  forever. — W.  P.  Witscll.  Editor. 

The  following  "Recollections"  of  the  Rev.  A.  R.  Mitchell 
(Rector  of  Christ  Church.  Greenville,  of  which  parish  Bishop 
Capers  was  twenty  years  rector),  may  illustrate  the  apprecia- 
tion of  those  who  knew  Bishop  Capers  intimately: 

In  writing  these  imperfect  recollections  of  Bishop  Ellison 
Capers,  a  man  made  in  a  large  mold  and  fashioned  after  the 
likeness  of  Christ,  I  must  go  back  to  the  time  when  I  first  met 
and  heard  him. 

It  was  when  a  boy  at  the  old  Holy  Communion  Church 
Institute,  Charleston.  S.  C.  now  called  the  Porter  Military 
Academy,  that  my  recollections  began. 

It  was  the  custom  of  the  Episcopal  churches  in  Charleston, 
about  the  seventies,  for  all  the  Sunday  schools  to  assemble  in 
old  St.  Paul's  Church  every  Whitsun-Tuesday  for  a  great 
celebration.  At  this  service  reports  were  read  from  the  re- 
spective Sunday  schools,  and  addresses  were  made  by  dis- 
tinguished clergymen  and  prominent  laymen.  It  was  an  occa- 
sion which  the  children  looked  forward  to  with  much  pride 
and  pleasure.    The  Sunday  schools  were  marched  through  the 


296  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

streets  from  their  respective  churches,  floating  their  banners 
with  various  devices. 

On  one  of  these  occasions,  in  1877,  the  Rev.  Elhson  Capers, 
then  the  eloquent  and  beloved  rector  of  Christ  Church,  Green- 
ville, S.  C,  was  requested  to  make  the  principal  address.  His 
great  valor  and  bravery  in  the  Civil  War,  his  stirring  memorial 
addresses  on  the  "Lost  Cause,"  were  known  to  every  school- 
boy, and  the  anticipated  delight  of  hearing  General  Capers, 
as  he  was  then  called,  was  clearly  pictured  in  the  faces  of  all, 
especially  in  the  faces  of  the  boys  of  the  H.  C.  C  I.,  who  wore 
the  gray  uniforms. 

I  can  remember  as  he  rose  in  the  chancel  to  speak  how  his 
manly  form,  his  handsome  face,  and  benign  countenance  im- 
pressed everyone,  and  eagerly  did  the  children  listen  to  his 
earnest,  eloquent,  and  telling  words.  Never,  never,  can 
his  words  be  forgotten  by  those  who  were  privileged  to  hear 
him. 

After  arousing  the  attention  of  the  children  by  his  sweet, 
gentle  manner  and  his  loving  greetings,  he  spoke  particularly 
of  the  Christian  soldier,  which  he  said  we  all  were  by  virtue 
of  baptism.  He  said  in  substance  that  the  same  qualifications 
and  characteristics  that  were  necessary  to  make  a  man  a  good 
soldier  in  time  of  war  were  necessary  to  make  a  good  Chris- 
tian soldier.  That  was,  faith  in  one's  cause,  courage  and 
earnest  conviction  of  duty,  obedience  to  those  in  authority, 
and  the  true  spirit  of  self-sacrifice.  He  most  beautifully  de- 
scribed the  Christian  armor,  and  spoke  of  the  success  that 
awaited  those  who  fought  under  the  banner  of  Jesus  Christ. 
To  impress  upon  the  young  minds  before  him  the  necessity  of 
always  looking  to  God  for  strength  and  guidance,  he  cited 
an  experience  of  his  own  during  the  Civil  War. 

"Children,"  said  he,  "I  don't  care  how  brave  and  coura- 
geous a  man  may  be,  in  the  time  of  battle  and  danger  he  will 
instinctively  and  inevitably  call  upon  God  for  help.  Just  be- 
fore the  battle  of  Jackson  I  was  spying  out  the  ground  to  see 
where  best  to  pitch  our  guns  for  the  battle  the  next  day.     It 


ELLISON  CAPERS  297 

was  nearly  twilight,  and  as  I  rode  down  into  some  low  ground 
where  there  was  a  field  of  high  corn  I  heard  a  familiar  voice 
offering  the  most  earnest  supplications  to  Almighty  God,  pray- 
ing for  courage,  and  that  he  might  not  disgrace  himself  in  the 
eyes  of  his  commander  or  his  country  the  next  day  in  battle. 
I  looked  to  see  who  it  was,  and  there  I  saw  one  of  the  bravest 
men  of  my  regiment  on  his  knees,  pouring  out  his  heart  in 
prayer  to  God.  That  man  fought  with  undaunted  courage  and 
fell  mortally  wounded  in  battle." 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  many  of  the  larger  boys  on  that 
occasion  after  hearing  this  forcible  address,  promised  them- 
selves, by  God's  help,  "to  continue  Christ's  faithful  soldier 
and  servant  unto  their  life's  end." 

Of  those  who  heard  General  Capers  on  that  occasion  there 
are  three  or  four  in  the  ministry  to-day,  and  two  are  bishops 
in  the  Church  of  God. 

Up  to  a  few  years  ago  the  diocesan  conventions  met  nearly 
every  year  in  the  city  of  Charleston,  and  it  was  expected  that 
the  clergymen  who  attended  the  convention  should  remain 
over  the  Sunday  following  and  fill  the  pulpits  in  the  respective 
Episcopal  churches.  Eagerly  did  many  look  in  the  News- 
Courier  on  Saturday  to  see  where  General  Capers  was  to 
preach  on  Sunday.  Crowds  flocked  to  hear  him  preach,  the 
young  and  old,  but  principally  the  old  Confederate  soldiers, 
irrespective  of  denomination;  many  who  fought  under  him, 
many  who  were  associated  with  him  at  the  Citadel  as  a  cadet, 
and  many  who  were  his  boon  companions  in  his  youth.  Often 
in  his  sermons  he  would  bring  in  as  an  illustration  some  of  the 
thrilling  scenes  of  his  war  experience.  Little  did  I  think, 
when  a  boy.  listening  to  this  hero  of  many  battles,  to  this  con- 
secrated man  of  God,  possessing  such  a  sweet  personality, 
such  wonderful  magnetism,  and  swaying  by  his  eloquence  the 
crowds  who  listened  to  him,  that  some  day  I  would  be  asso- 
ciated with  him  in  the  sacred  ministry  and  be  an  humble  priest 
under  his  episcopate. 

Many  years  elapsed  after  the  Sunday  school  celebration  be- 


298  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

fore  I  met  him  again  in  person,  although  I  always  read  with 
keen  delight  and  with  Southern  patriotism  his  heart-stirring 
memorial  addresses. 

He  was  always  regarded  as  one  of  the  leading  clergymen 
in  the  diocese,  occupying  for  many  years  the  important  and 
responsible  position  as  Secretary  and  Treasurer  of  the  Board 
of  Missions.  No  man  was  more  popular  or  wielded  more  in- 
fluence in  the  diocesan  convention  than  Mr.  Capers,  putting 
the  meeting  in  good  humor  by  his  pleasantries,  and  often 
acting  as  a  peacemaker,  especially  in  the  troublesome  times 
when  the  colored  question  in  the  Church  nearly  divided  the 
diocese. 

After  his  election  to  the  episcopate  he  succeeded  by  his  tact- 
fulness  and  his  persuasive  speech  in  bringing  back  in  union 
with  the  convention  those  parishes  which  had  withdrawn. 

My  next  recollection  of  him  was  when  Bishop  Howe  had 
arranged  for  my  ordination  to  the  priesthood,  to  take  place  in 
Christ  Church,  Greenville,  in  September,  1886. 

Mr.  Capers  was  then  rector  of  the  parish.  He  graciously 
received  his  young  brothers  to  the  ministry.  Rev.  A.  E.  Cor- 
nish and  myself,  and  gave  us  a  warm  welcome.  The  candi- 
dates for  the  priesthood  were  presented  by  Dr.  W.  P.  DuBose 
of  Sewanee,  who  also  preached  the  sermon,  and  Mr.  Capers 
presented  John  Finlay,  one  of  the  young  men  of  his  parish, 
for  the  diaconate.  At  tTiis  time  there  were  in  Greenville  many 
refugees  from  Charleston,  on  account  of  the  earthquake,  and 
the  rector  of  Christ  Church  spared  no  pains  to  make  them 
feel  at  home,  and  comforted  no  little  those  who  had  their 
homes  destroyed  and  some  whose  loved  ones  had  suffered 
from  the  terrible  disaster.  His  own  hospitable  home  was  a 
welcome  refuge  for  the  stranger. 

On  the  Monday  after  the  ordination  he  had  the  Bishop  and 
the  newly  ordained  to  dine  with  his  family.  His  winsome 
manners  and  wholesouledness  made  his  younger  brethren  feel 
that  in  him  they  had  a  friend  indeed ;  there  was  no  formality, 
no  reserve,  but  a  genuine  charm  pervaded  his  happy  home. 


ELLISON  CAPERS  299 

The  young  were  always  impressed  with  his  ease  of  manner, 
his  cordiaHty  in  his  home,  his  sweet  attention  and  devotion  to 
his  beloved  wife,  and  how  he  treated  his  children  as  his  own 
companions,  bringing  them  always  into  conversation  with  those 
present. 

It  was  my  great  privilege  and  pleasure  to  be  frequently  in 
his  home  after  he  moved  to  Columbia,  and  I  was  always 
treated  as  one  of  the  family. 

In  December  of  1887  he  took  charge  of  Trinity  Church, 
Columbia,  and  what  was  Greenville's  loss  was  Columbia's 
gain. 

It  was  with  much  grief  that  he  left  his  old  parish  and  town, 
where  he  had  spent  nearly  twenty  years  of  his  life,  and  where 
he  was  much  beloved  by  all.  So  universally  was  he  esteemed 
by  the  people  of  Greenville,  that  on  the  Sunday  before  leav- 
ing, the  various  churches  closed  and  the  respective  congrega- 
tions attended  Christ  Church  to  hear  his  farewell  sermon. 
He  was  not  only  a  faithful  pastor  of  the  flock  over  which  he 
had  charge,  but  he  was  a  public-spirited  citizen,  taking  an 
active  part  in  everything  for  the  uplift  and  bettennent  of  the 
whole  community.  Once  when  an  epidemic  of  measles  had 
broken  out  in  one  of  the  mill  villages,  and  the  people  had  be- 
come impoverished  and  the  sick  needed  attention,  Mr.  Capers 
not  only  administered  to  their  spiritual  needs,  but  with  some 
friends  he  secured  a  wagon  and,  placing  cans  of  hot  soup 
therein,  went  from  house  to  house  and  with  his  own  hands 
ministered  to  their  physical  wants.  Whether  it  was  the  erec- 
tion of  a  Confederate  monument,  the  organization  of  a  fire 
department,  the  building  of  a  bridge  across  Reedy  River,  or 
anything  for  the  public  welfare,  he  was  among  the  first  the 
people  sought  to  take  an  active  part. 

The  citizens  of  Columbia,  many  of  whom  were  his  personal 
and  lifelong  friends,  gave  him  a  warm  welcome  when  he 
moved  to  that  city,  and  they  felt  that  it  was  a  privilege  and 
a  blessing  to  have  such  a  man  in  their  community.     A   few 


300  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

days  after  his  arrival  I  called  to  greet  him  and  to  express  my 
great  delight  at  having  him  as  a  co-laborer  in  the  Church 
work.  It  was  a  cold  day  in  January.  As  I  entered  I  placed 
my  hat  in  the  hallway  and  was  ushered  into  his  warm  study, 
where  we  smoked  and  chatted  most  pleasantly.  Just  as  I  was 
leaving  he  got  my  hat  and  warmed  it  before  the  fire  for  me,  so 
that  I  might  be  more  comfortable  when  going  out  into  the  cold 
air.  This  seems  a  small  thing,  but  it  was  so  sweetly  and 
thoughtfully  done,  and  there  is  not  one  in  a  thousand  who 
would  have  thought  of  such  a  delicate  attention.  He  was 
always  so  humble,  and  it  was  this  virtue  of  humility  which 
made  him  so  strong  in  the  love  and  affection  of  those  who 
knew  him. 

He  had  not  been  in  Columbia  long  before  the  poor  found 
that  they  had  in  him  a  friend,  and  often  because  of  his  big 
heart  and  loving  sympathy  he  was  imposed  upon.  At  this 
time  there  were  many  chronic  beggars  in  the  city,  many  who 
refused  to  work,  preferring  to  live  on  the  charity  of  the  gen- 
erous. There  was  an  able-bodied  but  dissipated  woman  who 
made  a  practice  of  sending  her  children  around  with  a  phy- 
sician's prescription  asking  for  money  to  buy  medicine  for 
their  mother.  And  this  imposition  was  kept  up  until  the 
prescription  was  actually  soiled,  and  then  a  new  one  would 
be  secured.  Hearing  one  day  from  one  of  these  children 
that  the  mother  was  sick  and  had  no  wood,  and  learning  of 
her  place  of  residence,  Mr.  Capers  sent  a  load  of  wood  around 
and  went  himself,  cutting  up  an  armful  and  carrying  it  into 
the  house  for  the  supposed  sick  woman,  when,  to  his  surprise 
and  indignation,  he  found  the  woman  in  bed  in  an  intoxicated 
condition.  Even  with  this  experience,  he  was  so  credulous 
that  again  and  again  he  gave  liberally  to  those  who  asked, 
never  doubting  the  worthiness  of  the  cause. 

After  six  years  of  successful  parochial  life  in  Columbia  his 
brethren,  appreciating  his  great  worth,  selected  him  to  suc- 
ceed the  saintly  and  lamented  Bishop  Howe  in  the  episcopate. 


ELLISON  CAPERS  301 

The  occasion  of  his  consecration  in  old  Trinity  Church  was 
a  red  letter  day  in  the  diocese,  and  the  ministers  of  the  Chris- 
tian denominations  showed  their  love  and  admiration  for  him 
by  being  present  at  the  service. 

He  had  not  been  bishop  long  w^hen  he  urged  me  to  accept 
the  position  of  Secretary  and  Treasurer  of  the  Board  of  Mis- 
sions, which  he  had  filled  so  acceptably  for  many  years.  This 
position  necessarily  threw  me  in  intimate  association  with  him, 
and  notwithstanding  his  busy  life  he  was  always  ready  and 
willing  to  confer  with  me  and  give  wise  counsel. 

It  would  have  been  a  privilege  to  any  young  clergyman  to 
sit  at  his  feet  and  learn.  His  whole  life  was  a  sermon,  and 
sometimes  his  face  was  so  radiant  with  divine  glow  you  could 
not  but  feel  that  he  had  been  in  sweet  and  silent  communion 
with  the  Master. 

One  of  his  sweetest  characteristics  was  his  cheerfulness, 
nearly  always  looking  on  the  bright  side  of  life.  His  great 
consideration  of  the  feelings  of  others,  and  his  great  reticence 
in  speaking  of  the  faults  and  infirmities  of  his  fellow-man, 
was  natural  to  him.  He  was  brim  full  of  humor  and  frequently 
saw  the  funny  side  of  life,  and  made  others  convulse  with 
laughter  when  reciting  some  of  his  own  ridiculous  experiences. 

Bishop  Capers  was  one  of  the  most  entertaining  men  I  have 
ever  met  in  my  life,  and  there  were  few  subjects  that  he  could 
not  converse  freely  on. 

It  was  a  great  privilege  and  pleasure  for  young  men  to  be 
present  and  hear  him  talk  with  his  old  army  friends  on  the 
subject  of  the  War,  telling  in  his  graphic  way  the  thrilling  and 
trying  experiences  of  the  Confederate  soldier.  And  even  in 
the  thickest  of  battle  he  noticed  and  loved  to  relate  many 
funny  incidents.  It  was  just  after  the  War  that  he  took  charge 
of  Christ  Church,  Greenville,  first  as  a  lay  reader,  when  he 
was  preparing  for  the  ministry,  and  in  1867  as  rector,  after 
his  ordination. 

He  found  a  large  debt  upon  the  parish,  and  his  dear  people 
were  so  impoverished  after  the  War  that  Bishop  Davis  re- 


302  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

quested  him  to  go  North  and  soHcit  assistance  from  our 
Church  people.  He  was  a  stranger  to  New  York,  but  he  went 
provided  with  letters  to  the  bishop  and  some  of  the  prominent 
and  influential  clergy  of  that  diocese.  He  was  graciously  re- 
ceived by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Morgan  Dix.  rector  of  Trinity  Church, 
and  heartily  welcomed  to  his  parish.  General  Capers  told 
him  the  purpose  of  his  visit,  and  Dr.  Dix  said,  "Capers.  I  am 
preaching  a  series  of  sermons  now  on  Sunday  mornings,  but 
next  Sunday  afternoon  we  are  likely  to  have  a  large  congrega- 
tion, and  I  will  gladly  give  you  the  ofTering  for  your  cause ; 
now  you  can  either  preach  or  make  the  appeal."  General 
Capers  felt  that  he  was  a  poor  beggar  for  any  object,  so  he 
said,  "Doctor,  I  will  preach,  and  I  would  appreciate  it  if  you 
would  make  the  appeal." 

Dr.  Dix  spoke  most  feelingly  of  the  impoverished  condi- 
tion of  the  South  as  the  result  of  the  War.  and  urged  the  con- 
gregation to  give  generously  to  his  brother's  cause.  It  had 
been  published  in  the  papers  that  Mr.  Capers  would  preach, 
and  some  of  his  South  Carolina  friends  who  happened  to  be 
in  the  city  went  to  hear  him.  When  the  offering  was  taken 
up,  from  appearances  Mr.  Capers  thought  a  large  amount 
would  be  realized,  and  in  his  mind's  eye  he  could  see  the  debt 
on  his  church  cancelled.  But  when  in  the  vestry  room.  Dr. 
Dix  ran  his  fingers  through  the  offering  and  indignantly  said, 
"Nothing  but  nickels.  Capers.  I  will  add  fifty  dollars  to  this 
myself."     The  onlv  five-dollar  bill  in  the  plate  was  placed 

there  by  General  Capers'  old  Baptist   friend,  Dr.  B of 

Greenville,  who  had  gone  to  hear  him  preach.  From  some  of 
the  other  churches  and  the  many  friends  he  made  while  in 
New  York  he  received  a  good  amount  for  the  debt  on  his 
church. 

As  this  was  his  first  visit  to  the  metropolis,  he  was  surprised 
at  the  large  buildings,  the  immense  business  done,  and  the 
multitudes  which  thronged  the  streets.  He  reached  the  city 
at  night,  and  stopped  at  the  old  St.  Nicholas  Hotel,  and  when 
he  threw  his  window  open  in  the  morning  he  was  greatly  im- 


ELLISON  CAPERS  303 

pressed  with  the  crowd,  and  afterward  remarked  to  a  friend, 
"JVIarkley,  and  that  was  the  crowd  we  tried  to  hck!" 

As  I  have  said,  he  was  full  of  humor  and  was  a  fine 
raconteur. 

When  he  attended  his  first  general  convention  as  a  delegate, 
which  met  in  New  York,  a  layman  friend  of  his  living  in 
Brooklyn  asked  him  to  take  a  late  dinner  and  gave  him  explicit 
directions  as  to  how  to  find  his  residence,  after  crossing  Ful- 
ton Ferry. 

In  taking  the  car  in  Brooklyn  he  secured  a  seat  between 
a  rather  thin  but  sour-looking  man  on  one  side  and  a  fat, 
jolly  fellow  on  the  other.  He  had  not  ridden  far  when  a 
fat  marketwoman  with  a  large  basket  on  her  arm  entered  the 
car  and  caught  hold  of  the  strap  right  in  front  of  him.  Before 
he  could  get  up  and  ofifer  her  his  seat  the  car  made  a  lunge 
around  the  corner  and  the  old  woman  sat  squarely  in  his  lap. 
He  at  first  laughed,  and  all  in  the  car  were  convulsed.  He 
immediately  remarked,  "Madam,  if  you  will  get  up  I  will 
give  you  my  seat,"  but  she  sat  complacently  and  took  no  notice 
of  what  he  said.  The  thin  man  on  his  right,  without  a  smile, 
indignantly  said  to  General  Capers,  "It  is  an  imposition;  I 
would  not  stand  it.  Shove  her  off,  shove  her  off!"  Mr. 
Capers  said,  "My  knees  are  bent  and  my  hands  are  under  her. 
I  have  no  purchase."  And  Mr.  Capers  said,  "Madam,  I  am 
in  earnest;  if  you  will  get  up  I  will  gladly  give  you  my  seat." 
Still  she  took  no  notice.  Then  the  fat  man  on  his 
left,  shaking  with  laughter,  said,  "Mister,  why  don't 
you  pinch  her?  Pinch  her  good."  By  this  time  the 
whole  car  roared.  Mr.  Capers  felt  he  was  being  made 
a  butt  of,  and  with  some  feeling  repeated  his  request  for 
her  to  rise,  but  she  placidly  sat,  seeming  somewhat  uncon- 
scious of  the  ridiculous  position  she  was  occupying.  Sugges- 
tions came  from  all  parts  of  the  car:  "Mister,  why  don't  you 
bite  her?"  "Mister,  why  don't  you  butt  her?"  Shortly  after 
this  the  car  stopped  and  the  old  soul  got  off,  perfectly  uncon- 
cerned.    Then  someone  remarked,   "Why,  mister,  she  is   as 


304  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

deaf  as  a  door  post  and  did  not  hear  a'  word  you  said."  Laugh- 
ingly the  General  said,  "Well,  it  seems  to  me  she  should  have 
been  conscious  of  where  she  was  sitting." 

The  colored  people  were  devoted  to  Bishop  Capers,  and  it 
was  only  necessary  for  him  to  tell  them  to  do  anything,  and 
it  was  done. 

One  Sunday  in  Columbia,  after  he  had  held  several  services 
in  the  city,  he  went  out  a  few  miles  into  the  country  that  night 
to  hold  a  confirmation  at  one  of  his  colored  missions.  The 
archdeacon  of  the  colored  work  was  with  him.  While  driving 
out  he  said,  "Brother  J.,  you  must  preach  to-night,  as  I  am 
very  tired.  I  will  confirm  the  class  and  make  an  address." 
"But,"  said  Brother  J.,  "you  must  preach,  Bishop,  for  they 
are  expecting  you  to  do  so,  and  it  will  be  a  great  disappoint- 
ment to  them  if  you  don't.  Some  of  these  colored  people 
have  never  seen  a  Bishop."  But  the  Bishop  insisted  on 
Brother  J.  preaching.  The  archdeacon,  after  protesting  for  a 
while,  consented.  He  always  spoke  very  plainly  to  his  col- 
ored flock.  The  text  Brother  J.  took  that  night,  said  the 
Bishop,  was  "Whence  comest  thou?  .  .  .  Gehazi,  thy 
servant  went  no  whither."  After  describing  the  circumstances 
and  showing  the  faithlessness  of  Gehazi,  the  preacher  went 
on  to  say,  "Now,  when  some  of  you  fellows  go  out  at  night 
drinking  and  gambling  and  engaged  in  all  kinds  of  badness, 
and  you  go  home  late  and  your  wife  says,  'John,  where  have 
you  been?'  and  you  say  'Thy  servant  went  no  whither,'  you 
know  you  are  lying."  Just  then,  said  the  Bishop,  one  man 
who  felt  the  home  thrust,  cried  out  in  the  congregation,  "Now 
you  are  getting  under  my  jacket!"  The  Bishop,  whose  risibili- 
ties were  easily  aroused,  said  he  could  hardly  keep  from 
laughing  out  loud. 

In  one  of  the  old  colored  churches  in  Charleston  where 
services  were  held  before  the  War  for  the  good  old  respectable 
church  people,  many  of  whom  could  not  read  but  knew  most 
of  the  service  by  heart,  and  where  some  of  our  distinguished 
white  clergymen  loved  to  preach  in  simple  language  to  the 


ELLISON  CAPERS  305 

people,  there  was  sent  a  few  years  ago  a  colored  clergyman 
of  ability  to  take  charge.  He  made  many  innovations  to  the 
plain  service  that  the  people  were  accustomed  to,  and  preached 
considerably  over  their  heads.  A  desire  came  for  a  change 
on  the  part  of  many  of  the  old  congregation,  who  wished  for 
a  return  of  the  simple,  old  time  preaching  and  congregational 
singing.  The  Bishop  was  asked  to  visit  the  parish  and  hear 
the  complaints.  After  taking  in  the  situation  pretty  thor- 
oughly, he  met  with  some  of  the  leading  men  of  the  congre- 
gation in  order  to  settle  the  difficulties.  While  in  conference, 
he  said  to  one  of  the  pious  old  men  who  had  sat  under  the 
old  pastors  that  had  taken  a  loving  interest  in  them:  "Now, 
Cato,  what  are  your  complaints  ?  What  fault  do  you  find  with 

Mr.  M r    "Well,  Bishop,"  said  he,  "dat  man  do  preach 

over  our  heads.  We  no  understand  him ;  he  ain't  do  as  we  is 
'customed  to;  he  wear  things  in  the  chancel  we  nebber  see 
befo',  and  he  had  a  service  dat  we  don't  understand.  Now  I 
want  to  ax  you,  Bishop,  who  dat  man  Socrates  he  preach 
about — he  one  of  de  'Postles,  he  servant  of  de  Lord?"  "No," 
said  the  Bishop,  "he  was  a  great  philosopher."  "Well  den," 
said  Cato,  "I  ain't  want  to  hear  about  'em.  I  want  to  hear 
about  Peter  and  Paul  and  John  and  de  Lord  Himself.  Den 
again.  Bishop,  he  talk  about  a  man  name  Plato,  and  Aristotle. 
Is  dem  'Postles,  Bishop?  Was  dey  de  servants  of  de  Lord?" 
"No,"  said  the  Bishop,  "they  were  also  great  philosophers." 
"Well,  den,"  said  Cato,  "I  ain't  want  to  know  about  dem.  I 
want  de  good  old  time  gospel." 

Finding  that  the  parish  evidently  had  the  wrong  man  as 
minister  in  charge,  the  Bishop  urged  the  flock  to  pay  up  the 
clergyman  his  salary  in  full,  and  in  a  delicate  way  suggested 
to  the  minister  that  he  accept  another  charge  that  he  would 
give  him,  and  which,  perhaps,  might  be  more  congenial  to  him. 


Rev.  Wm.  E.  Evans,  D.  D.,  who  succeeded  Bishop  Capers 
as  rector  of  Trinity  Church,  Columbia,  S.  C.  (and  is  at  present 


3o6  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

the  rector  of  Advent  Church,  Birmingham,  Ala.),  wrote  thus 
of  his  departed  friend  and  bishop : 

The  death  of  Bishop  Capers  is  a  distinct  loss  to  the  Church 
and  to  the  State.  His  life  stood  for  righteousness,  and  his 
public  utterances  and  his  lofty  life  have  been  a  benediction 
through  many  years  to  the  young  men  of  his  State.  Almighty 
God  must  have  great  love  for  South  Carolina.  See  how  he 
has  honored  her  with  so  many  men  of  loftiest  character,  born 
upon  her  soil,  living  their  lives  within  her  boundary  line,  and 
achieving  their  high  purposes  in  the  elevation  of  the  social 
order  of  that  old  Commonwealth  that  has  given  to  the  world 
courtly  men  and  queenly  women  without  superiors  anywhere. 

Among  the  men  who  have  had  the  high  places  of  thought 
and  action  for  many  years  past  in  South  Carolina,  none  was 
truer  than  Bishop  Ellison  Capers.  Unselfishness,  sympathy, 
gentleness,  courage,  and  conscientiousness  blended  in  beautiful 
harmony  in  his  character. 

"His  life  was  gentle;  and  the  elements  so  mixed  in  him 
that  nature  might  stand  up  and  say  to  all  the  world,  this  was 
a  man." 

It  was  a  benediction  to  me  to  be  associated  with  Bishop 
Capers  through  the  years  which  I  lived  in  Columbia.  I  was 
honored  with  his  friendship  and  with  his  confidences,  and,  as 
imposing  as  he  was  in  public,  in  his  private  and  home  life  he 
was  at  his  best. 

During  his  lifetime  he  was  both  soldier  and  clergyman,  but 
first  of  all,  and  beneath  all,  he  was  a  man  with  a  great  heart 
which  endeared  him  to  other  men.  He  knew  their  faults  and 
their  virtues,  and  he  allowed  for  both. 

Everyone  realizes  that  South  Carolina  has  lost  one  of  her 
noblest  souls,  one  of  the  type  that  makes  a  commonwealth  its 
greatest  and  grandest. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

TRIBUTES  FROM  LAYMEN  AND  THE  PRESS 

It  is  a  rather  remarkable  tribute  (indicating  the  universal 
esteem  in  which  South  Carolina  held  Bishop  Capers),  that  not 
only  did  the  great  daily  papers  pronounce  through  their  edi- 
torial columns  the  highest  encomiums  upon  him,  but  without 
exception  every  county  paper  in  the  State  bore  testimony  to  his 
memory  as  soldier,  citizen,  and  bishop.  The  tributes  from  the 
press  and  laity  are  too  numerous  for  publication  here.  How- 
ever, we  venture  to  select  a  few  salient  eulogiums  paid  by 
editors  and  citizens  to  the  memory  of  Bishop  Capers : 

Bishop  Capers  was  probably  the  best  known  and  best  loved 
man  in  South  Carolina.  As  bishop  of  the  Episcopal  Church 
of  South  Carolina,  he  became  acquainted  with  the  rank  and 
file  of  the  people  and  they  loved  him  as  a  priest,  as  a  soldier, 
and  as  a  citizen.  Georgetown  mourns  with  all  South  Carolina 
for  him. — Georgetown  Outlook. 

Bishop  Capers,  who  died  in  Columbia  yesterday,  was  with- 
out doubt  the  best  loved  man  in  South  Carolina. 

The  Confederate  veterans  loved  him  for  his  war  record, 
which  was  as  gallant  as  that  of  any  man  who  served  the 
Confederacy. 

The  members  of  his  Church  loved  him  as  their  good  bishop 
and  faithful,  consecrated  servant. 

And  all  the  people  who  knew  him  loved  him  as  a  man  and  a 
citizen. — Anderson  Mail. 

In  the  death  of  Bishop  Ellison  Capers  South  Carolina  sus- 
tains an  irreparable  loss,  the  Church  is  deprived  of  a  useful 

307 


3o8  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

and  devoted  servant,  and  the  people,  irrespective  of  denomi- 
national affiliation,  a  true  friend,  v^hose  greatest  pleasure  in 
life  was  in  lending-  aid  and  assistance  to  his  fellow-man  and 
uplifting  fallen  humanity.  A  volume  would  not  suffice  to 
recount  his  innumerable  unselfish  deeds.  Coming  in  contact 
with  every  class,  dispensing  charity  wherever  needed,  aiding 
others  by  words  of  encouragement,  this  noble  man  so  endeared 
himself  to  the  people  of  his  native  State  that  in  his  death  every 
man,  woman,  and  child  in  South  Carolina  will  feel  a  peculiar 
grief;  unbounded  sympathy  will  go  out,  in  this  sad  hour,  to 
those  who  are  bereft  of  husband  and  father. — Orangeburg  Sun. 

The  death  of  Bishop  Capers  carries  the  writer  back  to  the 
days  when  the  war  clouds  had  just  passed  away,  and  the  time 
when  he  was  rector  of  the  Episcopal  church  in  Greenville, 
known  and  revered  by  the  students  of  Furman  (Baptist)  Uni- 
versity, as  General  Ellison  Capers.  No  more  knightly  gentle- 
man ever  lived.  The  perfect  gentleman  in  every  sense  of  the 
word. 

His  contemporaries  and  fellow-laborers  then  were  Drs. 
James  C.  Furman,  John  A.  Broadus,  James  P.  Boyce,  William 
Williams,  and  Basil  Manly.  There  never  lived  in  a  small  vil- 
lage.— which  Greenville  was  at  that  time, — such  a  coterie  of 
great  men.  Great  not  only  for  their  learning,  but  for  their 
patriotism  and  their  noble  Christian  characters.  Mr.  Capers 
was  the  junior  of  these  gentlemen  by  several  years,  but  he 
enjo^^ed  their  companionship  and  was  held  in  the  highest 
esteem  by  them. 

No  doubt  as  Bishop  Capers  went  home  three  days  ago  there 
was  a  blessed  reunion  in  that  kingdom  where  they  are  sitting 
down  with  Abraham  and  Jacob, 

"Soldier  of  Christ,  well  done! 

Thy  glorious  warfare  is  past ; 
The  battle  is   fought,   the   victory  is  won, 

And  thou  9^rt;  crowned  at  last." 

r— Greenwood  Journal, 


ELLISON  CAPERS  309 

To-day  the  mortal  remains  of  Ellison  Capers,  citizen,  sol- 
dier, statesman,  scholar,  man  of  God,  lie  in  state  and  will  be 
consigned  to  the  grave.  There  is  sorrow  throughout  South 
Carolina,  where  he  was  known  best;  but  there  will  be  deep 
regret  throughout  the  South,  where  the  influence  of  this  un- 
usually active  and  vigorous  life  was  felt. 

Greenville,  where  twenty  of  his  most  useful  years  as  a  min- 
ister were  spent,  feels  a  personal  bereavement.  The  exalted 
services  which  Bishop  Capers  rendered  his  State,  his  Church, 
and  his  fellow-men  in  the  varied  scenes  of  his  activity — all  of 
which  were  rendered  with  conspicuous  ability— are  too  well 
known  to  be  recounted  here.  He  was  a  man;  pure,  noble, 
great.  The  death  of  few  in  South  Carolina  could  come  so 
close  home  to  so  many. 

The  humanity  of  the  man,  which  shone  in  every  relation  in 
life,  his  love  for  his  fellows,  and  his  confidence  in  the  ultimate 
triumph  of  right,  endeared  him  to  those  who  came  under  his 
influence.  He  loved  courage  and  honor  and  truth,  and  he 
hated  cant  and  hypocrisy.  He  was  at  all  times  frank  and 
cordial,  and  even  the  humblest  parishioner  felt  uplifted  in  his 
presence. 

A  great  man  has  gone  to  his  reward,  but  after  a  life  spent 
in  good  deeds.  The  end  came  like  the  setting  of  the  sun, 
silently,  calmly,  inevitably. — Greenville  News. 

sorrow  of  the  bankers expressed  on  account  of  bishop 

capers'  death. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  Bankers'  Convention  in  session  April 
■22,  1908,  the  following  resolutions  were  offered  by  Mr.  Doar  of 
Summersville,  and  were  adopted  by  the  Convention : 

Whereas,  Ellison  Capers,  Bishop  of  the  Episcopal  Church 
in  South  Carolina,  died  on  the  afternoon  of  April  22  at  his 
home  in  the  city  of  Columbia,  where  we  are  now  assembled 
in  convention ;  therefore,  be  it 

Resolved,  That  we.  the  Bankers  of  South  Carolina,  repre- 


3IO  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

senting  every  section  of  the  State,  deplore  the  death  of  Bishop 
Capers,  who  in  war  and  in  peace,  in  state  and  in  Church,  so 
well  discharged  his  duties  as  to  merit  and  attain  the  highest 
honors,  and  at  the  same  time,  by  his  genial  manner,  his  sym- 
pathetic nature  and  his  catholic  spirit  he  won  the  affection  and 
esteem  of  all  people.  Few  men  have  died  in  South  Carolina 
more  universally  beloved  than  was  Bishop  Capers,  and  we 
feel  sure  that  the  State  at  large  mourns  his  loss. 

Resolved,  That  these  resolutions  be  spread  on  our  minutes 
and  a  copy  be  sent  to  his  surviving  family. 

Mr.  W.  A.  Clark  (president  Carolina  National  Bank),  paid 
a  very  beautiful  tribute  in  seconding  these  resolutions  to  the 
soldier-priest.  He  told  of  his  connection  with  the  beloved 
bishop,  of  his  great  and  noble  qualities,  and  the  convention  was 
given  the  benefit  of  knowing  more  about  the  bishop,  "who  was 
not  only  a  South  Carolinian,  but  a  son  of  the  whole  South." 

HON.    ROBERT    W.     SHAND,    CHANCELLOR    OF    THE    DIOCESE    OF 

SOUTH  CAROLINA. 

My  personal  acquaintance  with  Bishop  Capers  dates  from 

1866  or  '67.     He  was  only  about  two  years  older  than  myself, 
but    we   graduated   at   different   institutions   and   served    far 
apart  during  the  war, — he  on  the  coast  of  South  Carolina  and 
in  the  army  under  the  command  of  General  Bragg  and  his 
successors,  and  I,  in  the  army  of  Northern  Virginia.     After 

1867  I  was  frequently  in  his  company  until  the  close  of  1887, 
after  which  we  lived  in  the  same  community  until  his  death, 
for  the  first  seven  years  of  which  time  only  a  public  street 
separated  our  residences,  and  he  was  the  rector  of  Trinity 
Church,  of  which  I  was  a  member  both  of  congregation  and 
of  vestry.  In  1893  he  was  elected  bishop  of  the  Protestant  Epis- 
copal Church  for  the  diocese  of  South  Carolina,  and  as  such 
he  appointed  me  his  chancellor  or  legal  advisor. 

During  all  these  years  I  saw  him  much ;  was  often  in  his 
company,  and  few  men  had  better  opportunities  for  forming 
a  correct  estimate  of  him  as  man,  citizen,  and  clergyman. 


ELLISON  CAPERS  311 

In  support  of  my  opinion  of  him  as  herein  after  expressed, 
I  am  sure  of  the  fact,  which  was  generally  conceded  at  the 
time  of  his  death,  that  no  person  in  South  Carolina  was  more 
esteemed  nor  more  popular  with  all  the  people  of  his  State, 
no  bishop  in  the  House  of  Bishops  more  beloved  by  his  fellow- 
prelates. 

Of  his  war  record  I  have  heard  much.  Commencing  as  a 
staff  officer,  he  soon  became  an  officer  of  the  line,  rising  to 
the  colonelcy  of  a  regiment,  and  finally  to  the  rank  of  briga- 
dier general.  His  gallantry  was  never  questioned,  as  the 
printed  records  show,  and  he  was  often  wounded  in  battle, 
having  been  in  many  of  the  fiercest  conflicts  of  the  war.  He 
took  pleasure  in  talking  of  his  experiences  as  a  soldier,  and 
upon  this  subject,  as  upon  all  others,  he  conversed  most  enter- 
tainingly. This  subject  was  always  of  interest  to  me,  and  I 
listened  with  great  pleasure  to  his  narratives.  He  spoke  not 
to  exalt  himself,  and  there  were  no  words  of  self-praise. 
Indeed  he  simply  told  of  the  battles  in  which  he  had  been 
engaged — ^James  Island,  Franklin,  Jackson,  Chickamauga — 
as  any  onlooker  might  have  done.  Some  of  the  incidents 
which  he  related  with  animation  were  of  his  discomfiture. 
For  instance,  he  merrily  told  of  his  capture  of  a  Federal  regi- 
ment on  the  coast  of  South  Carolina,  which,  after  capture, 
refused  to  move  at  his  command,  with  the  result  that  he  had 
to  withdraw  his  regiment  on  the  approach  of  a  larger  force 
of  the  enemy. 

I  will  here  relate  an  incident  which  happened  during  the 
war  which  bears  more  upon  his  personality  than  upon  his  sol- 
dierly qualities.  A  Confederate  officer  rode  up  to  the  brigade 
headquarters  and  stopped  to  inquire  who  was  the  young  officer 
he  had  passed  on  the  road,  describing  the  man  and  horse.  He 
was  told  that  it  was  Colonel  Ellison  Capers  of  South  Carolina. 
He  expressed  his  thanks  and  remarked :  "I  did  hot  know 
him,  never  saw  him  before,  but  was  anxious  to  have  his  name, 
as  he  is  the  first  man  I  have  ever  met  with  whom  I  fell  in 
love  on  sight." 


312  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

His  life  was  a  sermon  that  bore  fruit.  His  presence  was 
felt  as  a  benediction,  and  his  love  for  his  fellow-men,  shown 
by  words  and  deeds,  made  others  love  him.  His  charity  led 
him  to  minimize  the  conspicuous  faults  of  his  people,  and  to 
ascribe  to  them  the  possible  motive  which  was  least  reprehen- 
sible. No  pastor  ever  had  a  more  loving  congregation;  no 
minister  ever  led  a  more  consistently  Christian  life.  From 
the  heart  of  this  man  who  loved  all  his  fellow-men  came 
sermons  which  tended  to  elevate  his  hearers  and  make  of  them 
true  Christian  men  and  women. 

In  a  passenger  train,  one  very  cold  night  from  Columbia  to 
Charleston,  a  man  was  badly  injured  and  brought  into  the 
baggage  car  and  laid  upon  the  floor.  He  was  insufficiently 
clothed  for  such  cold  weather.  Many  passengers  visited  him, 
but  Bishop  Capers  took  his  heavy  overcoat,  laid  it  over  the 
sufferer,  and  left  it  with  him  until  received  into  a  hospital 
in  Charleston.  Someone  present  remarked :  "What  a  splen- 
did sermon  that  was." 

The  cares  and  burdens  that  came  to  him  were  great,  but 
he  bore  them  all  without  a  murmur,  showing  here,  as  at  all 
times,  the  sweet  temper  and  full  faith  of  a  true  Christian. 
All  in  all,  he  was  a  brave  soldier,  a  noble  citizen,  and  a  godly 
man.  I  feel  that  my  life  has  been  bettered  by  my  past  asso- 
ciations with  him. 


A.  B.  Williams,  for  many  years  editor  of  the  Greenville 
Daily  Neztfs,  in  South  Carolina,  was  regarded  as  one  of  the 
State's  ablest  writers,  while  throughout  the  South  he  was 
recognized  as  a  foremost  editor.  Having  lived  in  Greenville 
during  the  twenty  years  Ellison  Capers  was  rector  of  Christ 
Church,  that  city,  we  quote  the  following  from  Mr.  Williams 
in  appreciation  of  Bishop  Capers'  ministry: 

In  my  view  Ellison  Capers'  influence  for  good  in  the  Green- 
ville community,  where  I  was  associated  with  him  most  inti- 
mately, and  in  the  State  generally,  was  beyond  estimate.    I  think 


ELLISON  CAPERS  313 

it  safe  to  say  that  during  many  years  he  was  the  most  potent  per- 
sonal force  in  Greenville.  When  the  town  was  just  beginning  to 
awaken,  and  was  taking  the  first  forward  steps  in  the  progress 
that  has  become  so  notable,  he  always  was  on  the  side  of 
improvement  and  development.  By  his  kindly  and  gentle  as- 
sociation with  people  of  all  classes  and  all  denominations,  he 
won  affection  and  confidence,  made  all  the  stronger  by  his 
reputation  as  one  of  the  modest  heroes  of  the  war. 

His  tenderness  and  toleration  were  endless,  and  his  man- 
hood was  sturdy,  and  his  courage  was  dauntless.  I  recall  on 
one  occasion  being  with  him  on  the  train  between  Spartanburg 
and  Greenville  when  a  drunken  countryman  had  trouble  with 
the  conductor.  The  man  finally  drew  a  knife  and  the  con- 
ductor made  an  ominous  movement  toward  his  revolver. 
Mr.  Capers  interposed  and  asked  that  the  man  be  turned 
over  to  him,  sat  by  him  on  the  seat,  put  an  arm  over  his 
shoulder,  and  in  a  few  persuasive,  gentle,  earnest  words 
induced  him  to  consent  to  get  off.  the  man  having  a  drunkard's 
stubborn  determination  that  he  would  not  show  his  ticket. 
Put  off  at  the  front  platform,  taking  a  sudden  change  in  his 
freak,  he  seized  the  railings  of  the  back  platform  as  the  car 
passed  him  and  swung  aboard  again,  apparently  more  des- 
perate and  bloodthirsty  than  ever.  Mr.  Capers  again  got 
him  in  a  seat,  and  with  infinite  pity  and  patience  at  last  quieted 
him  down  and  actually  induced  him  to  surrender  the  point 
he  had  made  and  avoid  trouble. 

I  have  no  doubt  that  Bishop  Capers'  life  was  crowded  with 
instances  of  this  kind.  There  was  a  story  long  told  in  Green- 
ville, of  how  a  rather  helpless  and  improvident  old  gentleman, 
well  known  in  the  State,  went  to  General  Capers'  house  one 
winter  night  confessing  that  he  had  not  in  his  own  home  bread 
or  fuel  with  which  to  keep  his  family  alive.  He  was  given 
a  sack  of  flour,  as  I  recollect  the  story,  and  directed  to  the 
woodpile.  Then  he  made  inquiry  as  to  how  he  would  get  the 
contributions  home,  as  it  was  beneath  his  dignity  to  be  seen 
carrying  things  through  the  street.    As  I  recollect  the  incident. 


314  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

General  Capers  promptly  shouldered  as  many  sticks  of  wood 
as  he  could  carry,  and  marched  off  to  the  house  of  his  bene- 
ficiary, with  the  wood  on  his  shoulder  and  the  flour  under  his 
arm.  The  qualities  illustrated  by  occurrences  of  this  kind  en- 
deared him  to  the  whole  people. 

In  later  years,  when  unhappy  political  and  social  dissensions 
distracted  and  divided  the  State,  he  was  one  of  the  few  men 
of  the  old  regime  who  held  his  power  over  the  people  gen- 
erally and  never  lost  their  confidence.  No  human  agency 
could  have  checked  the  outburst  that  came,  but  I  am  convinced 
that  he  did  much  toward  softening  animosities  and  preparing 
the  way  for  the  reunion  of  the  people  of  the  State,  which 
has  come  partly,  and  which  I  hope  the  younger  men  will  live 
to  see  completed.  Of  course.  General  Capers'  war  record  is 
part  of  the  written  history  of  his  State  and  country. 

As  I  knew  him  at  the  end  of  the  Reconstruction  period, 
through  the  times  of  peace  that  followed,  and  later  through 
the  days  of  intense  political  strife  and  bitterness,  and  through 
all  the  time  of  the  upward  struggle,  I  regarded  him,  as  I  am 
sure  all  South  Carolina  did,  as  one  of  the  State's  most  valuable 
assets. 

A  beautiful  story  related  by  Capt.  C.  K.  Henderson,  illus- 
trating the  piety  of  the  dead  prelate. 

To  the  Editor  of  the  State: 

Among  the  beautiful  tributes  to  the  memory  of  our  great 
departed  general.  Bishop  Capers,  in  your  issue  of  Thursday, 
was  one  recalling  the  Bishop's  prayer  at  the  unveiling  of  the 
statue  of  General  Wade  Hampton  on  Capitol  Square,  when 
thousands  who  had  assembled  in  honor  of  the  great  Hampton 
stood  with  uncovered  heads,  while  his  lifelong  friend,  the 
good  Bishop,  led  them  to  the  throne  of  God. 

I  thought  then,  and  your  article  in  yesterday's  issue  revived 
the  memory,  of  another  prayer  which  I  heard  this  man  of 
God  offer. 


ELLISON  CAPERS  315 

The  circumstances  are  wholly  different;  there  were  no  dis- 
tinguished orators  present;  no  great  concourse  of  people,  no 
one  called  upon  to  pray.  And  yet,  among  the  cherished  pic- 
tures that  hang  upon  the  walls  of  memory  there  is  none  to 
me  more  sublime  than  this  one.  It  was  in  the  year  1900, 
when  General  C.  Irvine  Walker,  General  J.  W.  Floyd,  Colonel 
J.  Harvey  Wilson,  Bishop  Capers  and  myself  were  serving 
on  a  commission  for  the  State,  locating  the  lines  and  position 
of  the  South  Carolina  troops  on  the  famous  battle-field  of 
Chickamauga.  The  government  had  placed  an  ambulance  and 
two  mules  at  our  disposal  to  carry  us  over  those  historic  fields, 
made  sacred  by  the  American  soldiers  who  had  struggled  here 
with  heroism  and  valor  unsurpassed  in  the  annals  of  the  war. 

In  the  party  were  the  above  named  gentlemen,  and  General 
H.  V.  Boynton  and  Colonel  E.  E.  Betts,  Federal  officers  in 
charge  of  the  park. 

Our  work  in  locating  the  lines  was  accomplished  with 
comparative  ease,  except  in  the  case  of  the  brigade  com- 
manded by  General  Capers.  It  was  late  in  the  afternoon  when 
this  was  located.  Bishop  Capers  at  once  arose  and  stepped 
out  of  the  ambulance,  saying,  "Gentlemen,  I  wish  to  pray 
where  my  troops  stood  in  the  long  years  that  are  gone."  And 
out  in  the  falling  rain,  under  the  dull  gray  sky,  he  stood 
uncovered  and  poured  out  his  heart  to  God  in  one  of  the  most 
touching  and  beautiful  prayers  I  have  ever  heard  offered.  He 
thanked  God  for  sparing  his  life  and  permitting  him  to  stand 
there  again,  without  the  roar  of  artillery  and  the  rattle  of 
the  musketry  ringing  in  his  ears;  for  the  beautiful  fields  no 
longer  dyed  crimson  with  human  blood,  nor  covered  over  with 
wounded  and  dying  men ;  for  all  the  heroic  lives  offered  upon 
the  altar  of  their  country;  for  the  fact  that  the  sounds  of  war 
were  now  hushed  and  still,  and  in  their  place  had  come  the 
song  of  love  and  peace,  a  reunited  country — one  aim,  one 
banner,  and  one  guide. 

When  the  prayer  ended,  each  veteran  in  his  heart  said 
"Amen,"  and  they  rode  away  from  the  spot  with  a  picture 


3i6  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

in  their  lives  that  even  Time's  remorseless  finger  shall  not 
make  dim. 


We  could  not  close  this  part  of  our  volume  more  fittingly 
than  by  introducing  here  the  beautiful  poem  of  Charles  S. 
Vedder  dedicated  to  Bishop  Capers : 

ELLISON   CAPERS. 

The  Bayard  of  the  tented  field, 

Where   knightly   deed  was   done; 
The    Sydney   of   the    stainless   shield, 
And  princely  heart  in   love   revealed 

When  the  red  field  was  won. 

His    falchion    sheathed,    a    shepherd    then, 

His   knightly    deeds    are    sure; 

Alike   to   rich    and   poor 
The  good  Sir  Galahad  of  men, 
Whose  strength  was  as  the  strength  of  ten 

Because   his   heart  was   pure. 

He   sleeps   a  paladin    at   rest, 

In  Heaven's  eternal  peace; 
His    life    on    others'    lives    imprest; 
His  name,   his   words,    his   memory  blest. 

By  tongues  that  will  not  cease. 


PART  II 


ADDRESSES  AND  SERMONS 

The  following  addresses  and  sermons  of  Bishop 
Capers  are  probably  by  no  means  the  finest  instances 
of  his  pulpit  ability  or  oratorical  powers,  but  they 
have  been  chosen  mainly  by  reason  of  the  circum- 
stances under  which  they  were  delivered. 

The  Bishop  was  invited  many,  many  times  to  de- 
liver addresses  both  within  and  without  the  borders 
of  the  Commonwealth  of  South  Carolina.  Of  these 
addresses  and  pulpit  discourses  much  of  their  glam- 
our necessarily  vanished  with  the  conditions  that 
gave  them  birth.  They  are,  however,  of  more  than 
transient  interest,  not  merely  because  of  their  his- 
torical significance,  but  because  they  reveal  how  a 
versatile  mind  can  focus  the  lambent  fires  of  memory 
and  imagination  upon  kindred  topics  from  so  many 
different  angles. 


THE  COMMENCEMENT  ADDRESS  BEFORE  THE 
SOUTH  CAROLINA  ACADEMY,  CHARLESTON, 
S.  C,  JULY  28,  1886. 

In  obedience  to  the  invitation  of  the  superintendent  and 
faculty  of  my  ahna  mater,  the  grateful  duty  is  assigned  to  me 
of  making  the  address  at  the  close  of  these  interesting  exer- 
cises. 

While  I  cheerfully  assume  the  responsibilities  of  the  hour, 
I  could  wish,  sincerely,  that  the  choice  of  the  officers  had  fallen 
upon  some  son  of  the  academy  who  could  bring  larger  abilities 
to  her  service,  whose  voice  might  be  heard  in  her  behalf  with 
more  effect  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  our  beloved 
Commonwealth. 

But  while  I  mistrust  my  capacity  to  do  full  justice  to  the 
worthy  institution  I  have  now  the  honor  to  represent,  I  bring 
to  the  duty  before  me  a  heart  full  of  grateful  respect,  and 
shall  speak  in  behalf  of  the  old  Citadel,  and  the  work  she  has 
done  in  the  past,  and  the  work  I  trust  she  has  yet  to  do  in  the 
future,  as  a  loyal  son  would  speak  of  a  cherished  mother 
whose  patience  had  borne  with  the  follies  of  his  youth,  and 
whose  wisdom  and  fostering  care  had  given  spirit  and  pur- 
pose to  his  manhood. 

In  greeting  you  to-day,  young  gentlemen,  as  the  first  gradu- 
ates from  the  academy,  under  its  second  charter  from  the 
State.  I  do  so  with  mingled  emotions.  Associations,  insepara- 
ble from  these  exercises,  revive  hallowed  memories !  They 
recall  the  fomis  and  faces  of  those  who  greeted  us  here  years 
ago,  and  who  will  meet  us  here  no  more  forever! 

It  would  be  to  me  a  most  gratifying  task  to  speak  to  you 
of  the  old  board  of  visitors ;  of  Jones  and  Jamison,  and  Means 

318 


ELLISON  CAPERS  319 

and  Hanna,  and  Wallace  and  Wilson — the  fathers  of  our  alma 
mater!  those  faithful,  wise  and  patriotic  men  who  watched 
with  jealous  care  its  steady  progress,  and  hailed  from  year 
to  year  the  increasing  evidences  of  its  usefulness  to  the 
State. 

With  equal  gratitude  I  could  tell  you  of  the  old  professors, 
and  speak  of  them  with  abundant  appreciation;  but  my  duty 
is  to  devote  my  time  to  the  consideration  of  that  for  which 
they  all  devoted  their  abilities  and  accomplishments  with  un- 
faltering energy,  the  advancement  of  the  character  and  work 
of  the  Academy  itself. 

Why  should  there  be  a  manifestation  of  so  much  interest  in 
the  success  and  stability  of  our  State  institutions  of  learning? 

Why  are  their  friends  ever  ready  to  maintain  their  work? 

And  why  should  the  State  extend  her  fostering  hand  to 
shield  and  protect  them? 

I  shall  attempt  to  answer  these  questions,  and  will  state,  as 
fully  as  I  can,  first,  the  ground  of  the  being  of  the  South 
Carolina  Academy;  and  then  present  some  of  the  most  cogent 
reasons  which  influence  the  friends  of  the  Academy  to  wage 
their  maintenance  as  important  agencies  of  the  State  in  pro- 
moting her  highest  welfare. 

To  bring  the  subject  before  you  as  distinctly  as  I  can,  I 
must  refer  to  that  part  of  our  history  which  lies  so  far  back 
of  our  times  that  we  are  only  too  prone  to  overlook  its  lessons. 

And  yet  we  should  remember,  my  fellow-citizens,  and  we 
should  teach  our  children  to  remember,  that  the  history  of 
those  early  days  contains  the  gemis  of  all  our  succeeding  his- 
tory. We  are  eating  the  fruit  of  trees  planted  by  those  who' 
knew  full  well  they  would  never  enjoy  them;  but  they  were 
content  to  plant  for  us.  We  are  living  and  acting  by  princi- 
ples and  governed  by  ideas  which  cost  our  forefathers  the 
abandonment  of  their  homes  in  the  Old  World,  the  perils  of 
thousands  of  miles  of  sea,  and  the  untold  hardships  and  dan- 
gers of  a  settlement  in  the  wilds  of  an  untried  land,  inhabited 
only  by  savages  and  wild  beasts.    They  counted  not  their  lives 


320  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

dear  to  themselves  and  their  families  if  happily  they  might 
lay  safe  foundations  for  their  descendants. 

Turning  back  the  pages  of  Carolina's  history,  we  find  the 
fathers  and  founders  of  our  State  careful  to  lay  sure  founda- 
tions on  a  rock. 

Within  twenty  years  from  the  removal  of  the  colony  to  the 
site  of  this  ancient  city,  the  Assembly  voted  to  establish  a 
public  library  in  Charlestown,  and  the  law  made  provision 
that  the  books  should  be  loaned  out  for  the  benefit  of  the 
inhabitants. 

The  first  schools  established  by  our  fathers  were  free 
schools,  and  the  act  establishing  them  declares  them  to  be 
founded  "for  the  benefit  and  use  of  the  inhabitants  of  South 
Carolina."  In  one  of  the  early  acts  of  Assembly,  1712,  the 
building  of  schoolhouses  and  the  settlement  of  schoolmasters 
is  encouraged,  the  act  authorizing  twelve  pounds  to  be  paid 
from  the  treasury  toward  erecting  each  schoolhouse  and  ten 
pounds  toward  paying  the  salary  of  each  parish  schoolmaster. 

Thus,  you  perceive,  while  the  first  generation  born  on  the 
soil  of  Carolina  was  yet  growing  up,  when  the  frontiers  of 
the  State  were  not  more  than  fifty  miles  away  from  Charles- 
ton, when  the  Red  Man  and  the  Spaniard  were  plotting  the 
destruction  of  the  infant  State,  and  while  yet  great  forests 
were  to  be  cut  down  and  cleared  away  that  a  virgin  soil  might 
produce  food  for  the  colonists  and  furnish  the  materials  for 
founding  trade  and  commerce,  the  founders  of  the  State  laid 
down  the  principle  that  it  is  of  vital  importance  to  the  well- 
being  of  the  whole  community  that  the  enlightenment  of  the 
citizen  should  be  the  care  of  the  State.  They  created  a  public 
library  in  Charlestown,  and  established  free  schools  in  every 
part  of  the  colony  for  the  express  benefit  of  all  the  inhabitants. 

The  accomplished  historian  who  writes  the  early  literary 
history  of  our  State,  and  tells  us  that  the  knowledge  of  gram- 
mar, of  history,  of  mathematics,  of  Greek,  and  of  Latin  could 
be  obtained  in  Carolina  at  any  time  after  171 2,  tells  us  also 
that  no  State  in  the  American   Union  afterward,   Virginia 


ELLISON  CAPERS  321 

excepted,  obtained  a  greater  proportion  of  national  honors, 
or  enjoyed  larger  opportunities  of  public  service;  and,  further, 
that  this  htness  for  discharging  her  high  duties  to  a  great 
republic  of  free  and  self-governing  States  was  mainly  due  to 
the  attention  paid  by  the  fathers  to  the  liberal  education  of 
their  sons. 

This  attention  to  education  by  the  State,  laid  dov^n  as  a 
principle  of  true  policy  in  1712,  has  been  ever  since  maintained 
in  South  Carolina. 

In  1801  the  Legislature  gave  signal  expression  to  it  by  the 
passage  of  a  bill  founding  the  South  Carolina  College  at 
Columbia,  and  in  the  preamble  to  the  act  uses  the  following 
language:  "Whereas,  the  proper  education  of  youth  con- 
tributes greatly  to  the  prosperity  of  society,  and  ought  always 
to  be  the  subject  of  legislative  attention;  and,  whereas,  the 
establishment  of  a  college  in  the  central  part  of  the  State, 
where  all  its  youth  may  be  educated,  will  highly  promote  the 
instruction,  the  good  order,  and  the  hannony  of  the  whole 
community:  Be  it  enacted,"  etc. 

This  preamble  embodies  the  principle  upon  which  some  of 
the  greatest  institutions  of  learning  in  our  country  have  been 
founded. 

Harvard  and  Yale  colleges  owe  their  existence  to  State  aid 
as  well  as  private  munificence;  while  William  and  Mary  Col- 
lege, in  Virginia,  next  in  age  to  Harvard,  was  endowed  from 
the  royal  domain,  and  was  at  first  chiefly  supported  by  the 
income  of  a  tax  on  tobacco.  The  University  of  Pennsylvania 
sprang  from  a  free  academy,  founded  by  Franklin  in  1749. 
The  University  of  Virginia  is  an  imperishable  monument  to 
the  wisdom  of  the  greatest  of  Democrats,  its  immortal  founder, 
and  has  been  for  more  than  fifty  years  a  peculiar  fountain 
whence  have  flowed  streams  of  blessing  to  the  State.  The 
universities  of  Georgia.  Alabama,  Mississippi,  and  North  Caro- 
lina, like  our  own  and  the  university  which  Jefferson's  wisdom 
founded,  are  all  State  universities,  and  cherished  by  the  State. 

The  greatest  institution  of  learning  in  the  Northwest,  where 


322  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

the  largest  number  of  students  assemble,  of  all  the  colleges  in 
our  land,  is  the  free  University  of  Michigan,  which  was 
founded  from  the  sale  of  public  lands  and  is  the  boast  of  that 
mighty  and  vigorous  Commonwealth.  Ohio,  Maryland,  Dela- 
ware, West  Virginia,  and  many  of  the  enterprising  States 
beyond  the  Mississippi,  with  the  great  States  of  California 
and  Louisiana,  have  flourishing  State  universities  and  acade- 
mies, liberally  endowed,  or  generously  supported,  by  their 
people. 

We  may  well  appreciate  the  language  in  which  a  Governor 
of  South  Carolina  in  communicating  his  message  to  the  legis- 
lature estimates  the  value  to  the  Commonwealth  of  its  seat  of 
learning:  "She  has  done  more  and  is  now  doing  more  for  the 
State,"  said  Governor  Hammond  in  1844,  "than  every  other 
corporation  put  together  within  its  limits." 

To  a  preceding  legislature  Governor  Richardson  had  put 
the  argument  for  State  aid  and  State  interest  in  a  single  sen- 
tence: "The  benefits  of  a  single  year,  the  attainments  of  a 
single  class,  the  acquirements  of  one,  only,  of  its  ripe  scholars, 
the  fruit  of  a  single  one  of  those  great  minds,  whose  energies 
it  has  developed,  would  not  only  compensate  for  all  the 
patronage  which  has  hitherto  been  extended  to  it,  but  is  im- 
measurably more  valuable  to  the  State  than  the  results  of  all 
her  other  benefactors  to  advance  interests." 

Then,  should  it  not  be  the  honorable  pride  of  every  Caro- 
linian, that  his  State,  in  her  corporate  capacity,  has  ever  sought 
to  elevate  her  citizens  by  extending  to  them  the  benefits  of 
the  broadest  culture? 

Should  it  not  be  a  cause  for  general  rejoicing  wherever 
learning  is  appreciated  and  character  honored,  that  Carolina 
may  point  to  some  of  her  most  eminent  citizens  in  the  past, 
and  some  of  her  most  honored  and  useful  citizens  in  the  pres- 
ent, to  whom  the  bounty  of  her  generous  hand  extended  the 
coveted  blessing  of  a  liberal  education. 

Imbued  with  such  sentiments,  and  from  a  high  sense  of  his 
duty    to    the    State,    Governor    Richardson    took    the    first 


ELLISON  CAPERS  323 

steps  toward  lighting  a  new  beacon  of  learning  in  Carolina  in 
1841. 

At  that  time  the  State  needed,  as  I  believe  she  now  needs, 
a  military  establishment  for  her  safety  and  protection.  She 
maintained  two  companies  of  enlisted  men,  and  employed 
accomplished  officers  to  command  them.  By  this'  means  two 
garrisons  were  established,  one  in  Columbia  and  one  in 
Charleston,  at  the  Citadel.  At  these  points  amis  and  munitions 
were  stored  and  kept  in  order,  ready,  in  case  the  State  should 
need  them  for  the  protection  of  the  lives  of  her  citizens. 
These  garrisons  cost  South  Carolina  annually  twenty-four 
thousand  dollars.  No  one  complained  of  this  expenditure  of 
the  people's  money,  because  everj^one  readily  understood  that 
it  was  for  the  general  good,  for  the  State's  physical  protec- 
tion, in  case  of  a  possible  insurrection.  Not  a  cent  of  this 
expenditure  came  back  to  the  State  in  the  quickened  intelli- 
gence of  her  sons;  not  a  dollar  was  returned  to  her  in  the 
well-being  of  her  indigent  youth  trained  to  duty  in  her  service 
and  taught  to  appreciate  the  opportunities  of  life. 

The  physical  benefits  of  the  State  was  the  only  end  sought, 
and  for  this  our  people  willingly  spent  twenty-four  thousand 
dollars.  Governor  Richardson  conceived  the  idea  of  making 
this  sum  yield  a  nobler  return  to  the  State,  a  more  enduring 
benefit.  He  would  guard  her  arsenals  and  maintain  her  dis- 
ciplined soldiers,  but  he  would  convert  each  arsenal  into  an 
academy  of  learning,  and  each  soldier  into  a  loyal,  cultured 
citizen,  and  return  him  to  the  Commonwealth,  after  his  term 
of  service,  "aniniis  opihusqiic  parati."  To  excite  public  in- 
terest in  so  noble  a  scheme  his  attention  was  directed  to  cer- 
tain poor  young  men  who,  fired  with  the  ambition  to  learn, 
stood  bound  by  the  cold  hand  of  poverty  at  the  foot  of  the 
ladder  they  were  more  than  anxious  to  climb.  Of  his  own 
authority  he  sent  them  to  the  arsenal  in  Columbia  to  be  the 
first  beneficiary  cadets  of  the  coming  South  Carolina  Military 
Academy. 

In  December,  '42,  the  lamented  Jamison  introduced  the  bill 
to  give  the  noble  conception  of  Governor  Richardson  a  legis- 


324  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

lative  recognition,  and  the  act  was  passed  which  secured  to 
CaroHna  the  guardianship  of  her  arms  by  her  young  sons, 
who,  serving  her  as  soldiers,  were  to  become  educated  and 
useful  citizens. 

Under  this  system  the  maternal  hand  of  the  State  extended 
a  liberal  education  to  her  poor  sons,  but  more  were  to  receive 
it,  whose  circumstances  enabled  them  to  compensate  the  State 
for  their  education. 

A  board  of  visitors,  to  whom  the  legislature  wisely  gave 
the  appointment  of  the  State  cadets,  exercised  a  discriminating 
judgment,  and  each  county  in  South  Carolina  sent  its  repre- 
sentations to  the  Academy.  Many  of  the  most  distinguished 
graduates  were  beneficiary  cadets,  and  some  of  these  in  after 
years  became  her  accomplished  professors. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  South  Carolina  Military  Acad- 
emy was  founded  in  the  practical  thought  that,  while  educating 
her  sons  for  duty,  each  son  must  become  her  servant  and  sol- 
dier, and  by  a  faithful  service  ennoble  the  intellectual  labor 
that  secured  his  education  for  life. 

"It  would  be  enough,"  says  Governor  Richardson,  while 
urging  his  scheme  upon  the  legislature,  "it  would  be  enough 
to  determine  the  advantages  of  the  alterations  proposed  to 
contrast  the  usefulness  of  more  than  fifty  of  our  most  promis- 
ing young  men,  educated  in  the  service  of  the  State,  with  the 
ennobling  consciousness  of  having  paid  for  their  education  by 
their  service ;  going  abroad,  under  the  first  feeling  of  a  proud 
and  manly  independence,  to  occupy  their  places  in  society; 
imbued  with  a  State  patriotism,  as  the  nurslings  of  her  insti- 
tutions; combining  the  enterprise  and  decision  of  a  military 
character  with  the  requirements  of  their  scholastic  oppor- 
tunities ;  dispersing  knowledge  and  intelligence  through  all 
the  vocations  of  life,  which  they  are  destined  to  fill,  and  per- 
haps usefully  diffusing  them  as  the  instructors  of  succeeding 
generations. 

"If  the  success  of  these  institutions,"  continues  Governor 
Richardson,   "should   form  the  basis  of  important  improve- 


ELLISON  CAPERS  325 

ments  which  may  be  extended  to  our  free  schools;  if  they 
should  supply  better  teachers  from  their  alumni ;  if  they  should 
suggest  higher  and  better  systems  of  morals  and  tuition;  or 
if  they  should  only  awaken  greater  ardor  in  the  people,  and  a 
warmer  interest  in  our  hearts  to  advance  the  cause  of  educa- 
tion, they  will  achieve  more  for  the  w^eal  and  honor  of  our 
State  than  all  the  other  labor  and  appliances  of  government 
could,  in  any  other  manner,  confer."  Such  was  the  language 
of  the  founder  of  our  Academy,  addressed  to  the  lawmakers 
in  1842. 

And  from  that  message  of  Richardson's  to  the  message  of 
the  wise,  practical,  and  farseeing  one  in  '6^,  fourteen  succes- 
sive governors  of  Carolina  have  commended  the  patriotism 
and  wisdom  of  the  fathers  and  founders  of  the  State  Military 
Academy. 

Having  thus  presented  the  ground  of  the  being  ot  the  insti- 
tution, it  remains  for  me  to  state  the  reasons  which  impel  the 
friends  of  the  Citadel  Academy  to  urge  its  maintenance  as 
one  among  the  great  and  useful  agencies  of  our  State  in  pro- 
moting her  highest  welfare. 

First  among  these  is  the  fact  that  the  work  the  Academy 
has  done  for  South  Carolina  demonstrates  its  value  to  the 
State. 

The  money  she  has  invested  in  her  military  school  has  paid 
a  good  dividend. 

One  of  her  most  worthy,  accomplished  graduates,  in  h's 
carefully  prepared  sketch  of  the  history  of  the  military 
academies,  presents  a  descriptive  roll  of  the  graduates.  This 
roll  is  from  the  official  record,  and  was  carefully  compiled  and 
revised  by  Captain  John  B.  Patrick,  the  secretary  of  the  board 
of  visitors.  The  period  embraced  by  the  roll  covers  twenty- 
two  years,  and  the  number  of  graduates  is  240.  I  would 
respectfully  submit  to  the  board  of  visitors  that  the  diploma 
of  the  academy  might,  in  propriety  and  with  eminent  justice. 
be  awarded  those  eighteen  cadets  who  were  within  three 
months  of  graduating  when  the  merciless  exigencies  of  war 


326  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

dismissed  them  to  their  calling  in  life.  On  the  descriptive 
roll  I  have  referred  to,  not  a  single  idler  appears!  Opposite 
the  name  of  each  son  of  the  Academy  is  the  record  of  a  manly, 
earnest,  working  life.  They  represent  every  county  in  the 
State,  123  coming  from  the  upper  counties  and  117  from  the 
middle  and  lower.  They  represent  every  worthy  calling  in 
life: 

Forty-four  teachers,  36  merchants  and  business  men,  34 
lawyers,  31  physicians,  27  planters  and  farmers,  2^  civil  engi- 
neers, 13  ministers  of  the  gospel  of  Christ,  and  28  graduating 
in  '61,  '62,  '63.  and  '64,  and  at  once  entering  the  Confederate 
service,  died  for  the  honor  of  the  State. 

Looking  over  that  roll  you  will  find  the  names  of  men  who 
have  been  themselves  founders  of  institutions  of  learning,  and 
who  are  to-day  reverenced  by  hundreds  of  our  youths  to  whom 
they  have  been  guides  and  instructors. 

You  will  find  the  names  of  able  and  learned  professors, 
some  of  whom  once  filled  the  chairs  from  which  they  re- 
ceived the  instructions  of  Graham  and  Calcock,  Capers  and 
Finley,  Hume,  Lealand,  and  Brisbane,  Herbert  and  Matthews ! 

You  will  find  the  names  of  gentlemen  representing  the 
pulpit,  the  bar,  the  railroad,  and  farming  interests  of  the  State, 
to  whom  the  present  control  and  management  of  the  academy 
has  been  instructed  by  the  legislature  as  her  board  of  visitors. 
These  worthy  gentlemen  are  here  to-day,  sitting  in  the  hon- 
ored places  once  occupied  by  the  fathers  of  the  academy. 

You  will  find  the  names  of  graduates  who  have  served  Caro- 
lina in  the  exalted  office  of  her  chief  magistrate  or  filled  with 
marked  success  and  public  approval  the  chairs  of  secretary 
of  State,  superintendent  of  education,  senator,  and  legislator. 

On  the  roll  I  am  reviewing  you  will  find  the  names  of  sol- 
diers who  served  their  country  in  the  greatest  of  modern  wars, 
and  not  one  of  whom  failed  to  do  his  duty  to  South  Carolina. 
Among  these  soldiers  are  the  names  of  forty-one  graduates 
who  died  martyrs  to  the  cause  they  maintained. 

Among  them  are  soldiers  of  Carolina,  whom  Davis,  Lee, 


ELLISON  CAPERS  327 

Stonewall  Jackson,  Beauregard,  Johnston,  and  Hampden  hon- 
ored and  respected  for  their  services,  and  upon  whose  unsulHed 
uniforms  the  Southern  Confederacy  fixed  the  stars  and  the 
bars  and  the  wreath  of  her  approval. 

What  more  could  our  fellow-citizens  reasonably  demand 
of  their  academy? 

If  to  do  your  duty  in  life  be,  indeed,  the  highest  achieve- 
ment of  man,  and  if  the  mother  who  trains  her  sons  for  duty 
is  worthy  the  consideration  mankind  has  shown  her  in  all 
ages,  and  under  every  form  of  civilization  from  pious  Hannah 
of  Israel  and  the  devoted  Cornelia  of  Rome  to  the  mother 
of  our  Washington,  then  may  our  alma  mater  well  receive, 
as  she  well  desen^es  to  receive,  the  consideration  of  the  people 
of  South  Carolina ! 

When  an  eloquent  son  of  Charleston,  William  Crafts,  was 
pleading  for  common  schools  in  the  legislature  in  181 3.  he 
referred  to  the  work  the  schools  had  done  in  their  two  years 
of  existence,  and  estimated  their  value  to  the  State  in  these 
words:  "We  raised."  said  he.  "an  infant  corps  of  future 
patriots,  and  those  years  were  fruitful  in  children  for  the 
State.  Learning  never  produced  ingratitude,  and  from  those 
children,  thus  adopted,  patriotism  may  look  for  ornaments 
and  sacrifices.  In  the  course  of  two  years  six  thousand  poor 
children  have  been  partially  instructed,  and  the  State  expends 
thirty  thousand  dollars.  Now,  sirs,  if  only  one  of  those  six 
thousand  should,  in  the  day  of  peril,  defend  this  nation,  and 
like  Perry,  cover  this  country  with  the  mantle  of  his  own 
glory;  if  only  one  of  them  in  the  holy  ofiices  of  religion  should 
illumine  the  path  of  virtue  and  purity;  if  only  one  of  them 
should  ably  advocate  in  the  senate  the  liberties  of  the  country 
and  the  rights  of  the  people — for  one  such  individual  thirty 
thousand  dollars  would  be  a  cheap  equivalent,  to  say  nothing 
of  that  more  numerous,  but  not  less  important  class,  who 
would  be  thereby  fitted  for  the  unambitious,  but  useful  offices 
of  private  life." 

Another  cogent  reason  why  the  State  should  maintain  her 


328  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

military  academy  is  found  in  the  system  of  training  and  the 
practical  character  of  the  instruction  it  offers  our  youth. 

The  prime  object  of  the  academy  is  not  to  make  soldiers. 
That  is  strikingly  evident  from  the  fact  that  not  one  of  her 
graduates  has  chosen  the  profession  of  arms  as  a  calling  in 
life.  Her  military  discipline  and  instruction  are  incidental 
features  of  her  training.  She  has  employed  these  means  to 
enforce  the  great  and  essential  lesson  of  order,  obedience  to 
rightful  authority,  respect  for  our  betters,  and  that  self-con- 
trol which  youth  ever  needs,  and  never  more  than  now. 

For  some  natures  such  a  training  is  the  sine  qua  non  of  their 
success.  However  irksome  it  may  have  seemed  to  the  cadet, 
exacting,  and  at  times,  perhaps,  irritating  to  the  graduate  in 
life,  his  military  discipline  follows  him  into  business,  regulates 
his  habits  of  order,  enters  and  organizes  and  disciplines  his 
home;  constantly  reminds  him  of  his  own  obligations  to  law; 
and  is  a  silent,  all-pervading  force  in  his  character,  subordinat- 
ing him  and  his  rightful  place  in  society. 

The  positive  effect  of  a  military  training  to  develop  charac- 
ter and  form  habits  of  attention  to  duty  finds  an  evident  illus- 
tration in  those  high  and  noble  characters  who  were  trained 
for  the  places  they  filled  in  our  country's  history  at  our 
national  military  academy. 

No  man  since  Washington  has  been  so  much  admired  as 
General  Lee,  and  no  character  in  American  history  is  so  thor- 
oughly the  product  of  a  military  training. 

I  do  not  advocate  such  a  course  of  education  for  every 
youth,  but  I  believe  for  a  large  proportion  of  our  young  men 
and  boys  in  this  precocious  age  of  universal  manhood  and 
universal  freedom,  parents  would  but  serve  the  highest  inter- 
ests of  their  sons  by  subjecting  them  to  a  military  training. 

I  fear  that  the  reins  of  family  government  are  held  more 
loosely  now  than  they  used  to  be. 

vSelf-indulgence  and  self-will  are  cursing  our  youth. 

Parents  in  South  Carolina  in  1844  hailed  the  establishment 
of  her  military  academies,  and  so  rapidly  had  they  grown  in 


ELLISON  CAPERS  329 

public  favor  that  the  buildings  were  doubled  in  capacity  within 
seven  years  after  their  founding. 

In  1857,  the  thirteenth  year  of  their  history,  the  number 
of  pay  applicants  for  cadetships  so  far  exceeded  the  ability 
of  the  institution  to  accommodate  them,  that  for  want  of  the 
necessary  quarters  twenty-eight  pay  applications  were  rejected, 
and  the  board  recommended  a  third  enlargement  of  the  build- 
ings at  the  arsenal,  to  gratify  the  desire  of  a  large  body  of  the 
people  of  the  State  to  have  their  sons  taught  at  these  schools. 

In  their  report  to  the  governor,  shortly  after  the  experi- 
ment had  been  well  tested,  the  board  of  visitors  gives  the 
secret  of  the  popularity  of  the  military  academy  in  these 
words  : 

"The  military  training  of  the  cadets  facilitates  their  in- 
struction in  other  branches  of  study  by  the  habits  of  order  and 
discipline  which  it  promotes,  and  in  the  opinion  of  the  board 
appears  to  solve  the  difficult  problem  of  the  management  of 
a  number  of  young  men  gathered  in  one  institution  of  learn- 
ing and  science.  By  requiring  them  to  account  for  every 
moment  of  their  time,  it  prevents  them  from  acquiring  vicious 
habits,  by  withdrawing  them  from  the  allurements  of  dissipa- 
tion." 

A  practical  and  scientific  course,  embracing  history,  the 
French  language,  every  department  of  mathematics,  book- 
keeping, rhetoric,  moral,  mental,  and  natural  philosophy,  archi- 
tectural and  topographical  drawing,  chemistry,  geology,  min- 
eralogy, botanv.  civil  and  military  engineering,  the  constitu- 
tional law  of  the  United  States  and  the  law  of  nations,  gave  to 
each  cadet  the  opportunity  to  fit  himself  for  the  business  of 
life  or  for  the  higher  pursuits  of  learning  in  any  of  the  great 
professions.  Hundreds  of  Carolina's  youth  embraced  this 
opportunity.  From  first  to  last  more  than  two  thousand  of 
our  young  men  have  been  trained  and  taught  at  the  academy, 
to  a  greater  or  less  extent. 

If  our  alma  mater  could  to-day  collect  the  names  of  the 
cadets  who  left  her  walls,  after  receiving  one,  two.  or  three 


330  TUt  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

years  of  her  government  and  teaching,  and  if  she  could  do 
for  them  what  Colonel  Thomas  and  Captain  Patrick  have 
done  for  her  graduates — write  opposite  to  their  names  a  his- 
tory of  their  work  in  life — what  ample  justification  it  would 
afford  my  argument ! 

Who  could  estimate  by  a  money  standard  the  value  of  the 
academy's  stamp  upon  those  two  thousand  youths? 

Who  could  say  how  far  they  had  extended  her  benefits  to 
society?  Into  what  nooks  and  corners  the  light  had  shone 
which  they  had  kindled  at  her  altars? 

When  the  accomplished  president  of  the  great  University 
of  Michigan  was  recently  presenting  the  claims  of  that  insti- 
tution upon  the  State,  he  urged  the  thought  I  am  now  pre- 
senting in  glowing  language.  "True  education,"  said  Presi- 
dent Augell,  "is  luminous,  outgoing,  diffusive,  reproductive. 
It  is  by  this  diffusion  of  educated  men,  and  by  the  diffusion 
through  them  of  the  direct  and  indirect  advantages  of.  educa- 
tion among  the  inhabitants  of  every  town  and  hamlet,  that  a 
great  school  of  learning  does  its  highest  work  and  justifies  its 
claim  to  support  by  the  whole  people.  It  is  not  true  that  a 
State  institution  blesses  only  the  man  who  receives  its  diploma. 
In  a  large  sense  it  is  true  that  the  advantages  of  the  higher 
education  cannot  be  selfishly  monopolized.  An  education  can- 
not be  truly  enjoyed,  it  can  hardly  be  used  in  an  honorable 
way.  without  conferring  benefits  on  others.  You  might  as' 
reasonably  talk  of  the  sun  monopolizing  and  enjoying  alone 
the  light  that  is  generated  in  it.  as  to  speak  of  a  scholar 
monopolizing  the  advantage  of  his  education.  The  moment 
the  sun  shines  the  wide  universe  around  is  bathed  in  his  life- 
giving  beams." 

The  graduates  and  cadets  who  have  gone,  and  who  go  forth 
to-day,  from  this  State  academy  go  forth  bearing  a  lighted 
torch.  They  go  forth  bearing  precious  seed,  with  the  purpose 
and  commission  to  sow  by  all  waters,  in  all  fields,  and  their 
fellow-citizens  must  share  with  them  the  harvests. 

Learning  and   character  cannot  be   converted   into    secret 


ELLISON  CAPERS  331 

treasures  which  men  may  hide  away  in  their  homes  or  their 
communities,  as  the  sordid  miser  hides  his  bag  of  precious 
gold.  They  go  with  the  man  wherever  he  goes,  they  do  the 
work  he  undertakes,  they  plead  the  cause  he  advocates,  they 
fulfill  the  trusts  he  assumes,  they  serve  the  State  he  serves, 
they  multiply  a  hundredfold  all  his  efforts  to  do  good  in  the 
world,  and  consecrate  his  example ! 

Let  the  day  be  forever  remote  Avhen  South  Carolina  shall 
withhold  a  great  agency  in  forming  the  characters  and  train- 
ing the  minds  of  her  sons. 

Another  consideration  which  to  my  mind  offers  a  mighty 
reason  for  cherishing  our  military  academy  is.  that  with  the 
University  at  Columbia  it  is  a  unifying  agency,  uniting  our 
people.  These  State  institutions  are  centers  of  unity,  as  no 
other  institutions  of  learning  can  be.  The  very  principle  upon 
which  they  are  fostered  by  the  State  is,  that  they  belong  to 
her  entire  people,  without  distinction  of  section,  class,  or 
religious  belief.  Hence,  parents  of  all  sections,  all  classes,  and 
of  every  religious  denomination  are  free  to  commit  their  sons 
to  the  care  of  the  State  institutions.  Being  there,  what  is  the 
effect  of  their  association  as  fellow-students?  Friendly  con- 
tact with  those  Avho  differ  from  us.  conscientiously,  teaches 
respect  for  their  sincerity;  and,  in  the  degree  that  men  are 
faithful  to  their  convictions,  consideration  for  their  convic- 
tions. 

When  a  youth  for  the  first  time  emerges  from  the  narrow 
limits  of  the  township  in  which  he  was  born,  and  finds  himself 
in  daily  association  with  representatives  from  every  quarter 
of  his  State,  some  of  whom  will  hold  religious  beliefs,  and 
practice,  it  may  be,  religious  customs  he  may  have  been  taught 
to  hate,  while  others  will  belong  to  a  political  creed  he  had 
never  considered — that  youth  has  entered  a  new  world,  and 
must  make  happy  discoveries. 

He  will  learn  toleration,  consideration  for  the  rights  of 
others,  and  that  independence  in  holding  one's  opinion  which 
is  noble  only  when  it  is  dignified  by  a  becoming  respect  for 


332  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

the  opinions  of  others.  Watched  by  the  maternal  eye  of  the 
State,  and  nurtured  by  her  care,  he  will  early  feel  the  bond  of 
citizenship. 

A  sentiment  for  the  whole  State  will  grow  in  close  associa- 
tion with  friendships  so  strong,  so  dear,  that  distance,  nor 
difference  of  opinion,  nor  opposing  State  policies,  nor  the 
clash  of  rival  interests,  nor  the  ambition  of  aspiring  men.  nor 
mountain,  nor  seaboard,  nor  any  other  creature  shall  be  able  to 
separate  him  from  the  catholic  spirit  of  his  academic  life. 

This  is  a  great  gain  to  the  State,  and  a  noble  end  to  be 
achieved  by  her  State  institutions  of  learning.  The  thought- 
ful student  of  our  history,  from  the  Revolution  to  the  present 
time,  must  see  the  deadly  tendency  to  sectionalism  which  that 
history  records. 

Though  sectionalism  may  be  a  natural  feeling,  yet  it  is 
ruinous  to  the  harmony  of  the  State,  mars  its  character,  and 
must  effect  injuriously  its  legislation. 

A  mere  partisan  for  his  section  or  his  sect  may  be  the 
embodiment  of  intellectual  ability,  earnestness,  and  honesty 
of  purpose,  but  he  cannot  be  a  just  lawmaker. 

No  cataract  which  afflicts  the  human  vision,  distorting  the 
lovely  objects  of  nature  into  hideous  shapes,  and  misleading 
the  steps  of  man.  is  a  greater  blinder  than  traditional  preju- 
dice. 

Let  the  kindly  offices  of  friendly  association,  like  the  healing 
out  of  the  skillful  oculist,  gently  remove  the  confusing  obstruc- 
tion, and  men  and  measures  stand  in  their  proper  relation, 
and  the  light  of  justice  and  truth  pours  into  the  mind,  as  into 
a  temple  swept  and  garnished. 

"Would  you  make  a  Commonwealth  an  unit?"  "Educate  its 
sons  together."  This  was  the  counsel  of  the  great  and  good 
Thornwell.  Having  devoted  a  large  portion  of  his  life  to  the 
business  of  instruction,  says  Dr.  Labarde,  in  his  sketch  of 
Dr.  Thornwell,  he  had  occasion  to  examine  for  himself  the 
great  question  of  education,  and  his  matured  conclusions  are 
to  be  found  partially  stated  in  his  letter  to  Governor  Man- 


ELLISON  CAPERS  333 

ning  in  1853.  In  concluding  that  letter  he  thus  speaks  of  the 
unifying  powers  of  a  common  education,  and  the  need  of  a 
common  center  of  instruction :  "There  ought  to  be  some  com- 
mon ground  on  which  the  members  of  a  State  may  meet 
together  and  feel  that  they  are  brothers ;  some  common  ground 
on  which  their  children  may  mingle  without  confusion  or  dis- 
cord, and  bury  every  selfish  and  narrow  interest  in  the  sublime 
sentiment  that  they  belong  to  the  same  family !  Nothing  is  so 
powerful  as  a  common  education,  and  the  thousand  sweet 
associations  which  spring  from  it,  and  cluster  around  it,  to 
cherish  the  holy  brotherhood  of  men.  Those  who  have 
walked  together  in  the  same  path  of  science,  and  taken  sweet 
counsel  in  the  same  halls  of  learning;  who  went  arm  in  arm 
in  that  hallowed  season  of  life  when  the  foundations  of  all 
excellence  are  laid ;  who  have  wept  with  the  same  sorrows,  or 
laughed  with  the  same  joys;  who  have  been  fired  with  the 
same  ambition ;  lured  by  the  same  hopes,  and  grieved  at  the 
same  disappointments — these  are  not  the  men  in  after  years  to 
stir  up  animosities  or  foment  intestine  feuds." 

I  would  present  one  other  consideration.  Our  State  should 
preserve  her  military  academy  as  the  complement  of  her  pub- 
lic school  system.  To-day  you  graduate  fifty-three  cadets. 
Of  this  number  thirty-five  are  to  be  teachers  in  our  common 
schools  and  in  their  respective  counties  for  the  next  two  years. 
This  service  they  owe  to  the  State  as  the  recipients  of  her 
generous  bounty.  The  academic  education  of  these  thirty-five 
teachers  has  cost  the  State  the  sum  of  forty-two  thousand 
dollars,  which  is  twenty-nine  cents  tax  to  each  taxpayer  on  a 
thousand  dollars,  in  four  years. 

A  large  body  of  our  fellow-citizens  representing  the  farm- 
ing interests  of  the  State,  recently  convened  in  Columbia, 
have  resolved  that  the  State  military  academy  is  a  useless 
expense  to  the  taxpaA'^er,  and  gravely  recommended  its  de- 
struction. 

Well,  my  friends,  if  the  record  I  have  attempted  to  present 
to-day  goes  for  nothing  in  the  minds  of  our  assembly;  if  the 


334  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

policy  of  our  State,  from  its  colonial  history  to  the  present, 
was  erroneous  or  unwise;  if  our  fathers  have  blundered  in 
their  patriotic  efforts  to  elevate  the  citizens  of  the  State,  and 
if  the  legislatures  of  Carolina,  from  171 2  to  1886,  have  been 
perpetuating  in  the  sacred  name  of  learning  and  enlightenment 
a  great  wrong,  then  indeed  let  the  Palmetto  flag  be  hauled 
down  from  yonder  flagstaff,  and  the  Citadel  and  college  go ! 

We  have  witnessed  the  torch  and  the  rude  hand  of  war 
burn  and  destroy  what  most  we  loved  and  prized !  It  may  be 
before  us,  fellow-graduates,  and  friends  of  the  old  Citadel, 
to  witness  the  hands  of  our  own  brothers  tear  the  crown  from 
the  honored  brow  of  our  alma  mater;  and,  invoking  the  same 
authority  that  gave  her  being,  deprive  her  of  the  State's  com- 
mission to  do  good  in  her  day  and  generation — but  until  I 
"witness  the  catastrophe  I  will  not  believe  its  consummation 
possible  in  a  legislature  of  South  Carolina  composed  of  repre- 
sentative South  Carolinians. 


AN  ADDRESS  BY  REV\  ELLISON  CAPERS,  D.  D., 
MEMORIAL  DAY,  MAY  20.  1890.  GREENVILLE, 
S.  C. 

Ladies  of  the  Memorial  Association  : 

The  return  of  the  springtime  commemorates  the  twenty- 
fifth  anniversary  of  the  surrender  of  the  Southern  armies 
and  the  downfall  of  the  Southern  Confederacy. 

A  generation  has  grown  into  manhood  since  the  memorable 
spring  of  1865.  Mr.  Davis  and  the  majority  of  his  cabinet 
have  passed  away  in  an  honored  old  age,  and,  with  most  of 
the  distinguished  soldiers  who  led  our  armies,  are  "resting 
under  the  shade  of  the  trees"  beyond  the  great  river  that 
separates  them  from  us !  The  government  against  which  they 
led  our  people  triumphed  over  their  counsels,  and  their  armies 
crushed  to  atoms  their  power,  trampled  their  hopes  into  the 
dust,  and  its  proud  banner  waves  over  their  graves  and  is  the 
flag  of  our  common  country  to-day! 

To  that  flag  they  swore  allegiance  before  they  died,  and 
those  of  us  who  survive  them  stand  pledged  to  defend  its 
honor  with  our  heart's  blood. 

The  cause  they  fought  for  is  often  denounced  as  the  "re- 
bellion";  or  the  unholy  war  for  slavery;  or  it  is  pitied  as  "the 
lost  cause"  of  an  ambitious  and  arrogant  aristocracy.  Its  his- 
tory is  written,  for  the  most  part,  by  its  enemies,  and  its  most 
sacred  archives  have  been  burned  to  ashes,  or  lost  in  the  wreck 
and  ruin  of  homes,  or  surrendered  to  the  custody  of  the 
conqueror ! 

And  yet  we  keep  memorial  days ! 

Our  people  strew  the  graves  of  Confederates  with  fresh 
flowers,  and  though  twenty-five  years  have  elapsed  since  the 
soldier  returned  to  his  home  from  the  field  of  his  defeat  and 

335 


336  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

surrender,  yet  his  countrymen  trust  and  honor  his  courage! 
The  noblest  monuments  of  art  in  all  our  Southland  have  been 
erected  to  commemorate  his  valor  and  perpetuate  his  heroism, 
chiseling  his  uniformed  statue  in  Parian  marble,  and  inscribing 
for  all  time,  as  on  our  own  State  monument,  the  solemn  legend 
of  his  sacrifices : 

"Let  the  stranger  who  may  in  future  times  read  this  inscrip- 
tion recognize  that  these  were  men  whom  power  could  not 
corrupt,  whom  death  could  not  terrify,  whom  defeat  could 
not  dishonor;  and  let  their  virtues  plead  for  just  judgment  of 
the  cause  in  which  they  perished; — let  the  South  Carolinian 
of  another  generation  remember  that  the  State  taught  them 
how  to  live  and  how  to  die ;  and  that  from  her  broken  fortunes 
she  has  preserved  for  her  children  the  priceless  treasure  of 
their  memories,  teaching  all  who  may  claim  the  same  birth- 
right, that  Truth,  Courage  and  Patriotism  endure  forever." 

These  monuments  are  dear  to  our  Southern  people;  they 
speak  to  us,  they  teach  us,  they  comfort  us,  they  guide  us,  they 
inspire  us !  They  are  to  us  what  the  trophy  of  Marathon  was 
to  the  Athenians, — they  perpetuate  the  memory  of  our  fathers, 
and  brothers,  and  sons,  "who  died  in  the  performance  of  their 
duty,"  and  "glorified  a  fallen  cause  by  the  simple  manhood  of 
their  lives,  the  patient  endurance  of  suffering,  and  the  heroism 
of  death." 

On  the  brilliant  pages  of  Macaulay  is  a  graphic  description 
of  the  manner  in  which  the  Irish  of  Londonderry  turned  the 
town  wall,  the  cathedral,  the  whole  city  into  a  memorial  of 
the  devotion  of  its  defenders  in  1689.  The  historian  concludes 
in  these  words :  "It  is  impossible  not  to  respect  the  sentiment 
which  indicates  itself  by  these  tokens.  It  is  a  sentiment  which 
belongs  to  the  higher  and  purer  part  of  human  nature,  and 
which  adds  not  a  little  to  the  strength  of  States.  A  people 
which  takes  no  pride  in  the  noble  achievements  of  remote 
ancestors  will  never  achieve  anything  worthy  to  be  remem- 
bered with  pride  by  remote  descendants." 

All  peoples,  all  worthy  nations,  have  respected  this  pure 


ELLISON  CAPERS  337 

sentiment  of  our  humanity;  and  in  that  sacred  history,  which 
holy  men  of  God  wrote,  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy 
Ghost,  we  read  of  the  monuments  they  built  to  commemorate 
the  faith  and  courage  and  patience  and  devotion  of  the  Lord's 
hosts,  and  to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  His  mercies. 

Aye,  they  built  monuments  to  teach  posterity! 

Speaking  of  that  which  Joshua  built  on  the  western  bank 
of  the  Jordan,  to  commemorate  its  miraculous  passage  by  his 
army,  he  said  to  his  people :  "This  shall  be  a  sign  among  you, 
that  when  your  children  ask  their  fathers,  in  time  to  come, 
saying,  what  n:ean  ye  by  these  stones?  then  ye  shall  answer 
them,  that  the  waters  of  Jordan  were  cut  off  before  the  Ark 
of  the  Covenant  of  the  Lord,  when  it  passed  over  Jordan;  and 
these  stones  shall  be  a  memorial  unto  the  children  of  Israel 
forever!" 

And  this  is  precisely  the  meaning  of  our  memorials  and 
monuments — they  are  for  us,  and  for  our  children,  forever! 

History  may  impartially  record  the  failures,  or  the  mis- 
takes, or  the  unwisdom  of  a  people,  and  its  perusal  may  dis- 
appoint and  discourage  us,  but  so  long  as  that  history  inscribes 
the  record  of  patience  under  trials,  courage  in  danger,  forti- 
tude in  adversity,  faith  in  misfortune,  and  cheerful  energy  in 
defeat. — such  a  history  can  never  be  a  dishonor  to  any  people. 
He  dishonors  himself  who  fails  to  respect  it,  and  he  alone  is 
unblessed  by  its  examples  who  is  unmindful  of  its  memory. 

These  memorial  days,  the  monuments  we  build  to  the  Con- 
federate dead,  proclaim  to  the  civilized  world  the  self-respect 
of  a  people  who  would  not  command,  as  they  would  not 
deserve,  the  respect  of  civilized  nations  and  patriotic  States, 
if  they  failed  to  hold  in  reverence  and  honor  the  sacrifices 
of  men  who  gave  the  highest,  the  best,  the  last  proof  which 
mortal  man  can  give  of  the  sincerity,  purity  and  patriotism 
of  their  conduct;  "greater  love  hath  no  man  than  this,  that 
a  man  lay  down  his  life  for  his  brethren!" 

If  the  Southern  armies  had  won  no  glory  in  the  war, — if 
every  campaign  had  been  a  military  blunder,  and  every  battle 


23^  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

crushing  defeat, — if  the  South  had  produced  no  great  gen- 
erals, or  able  seamen;  but  if,  on  the  contrary,  we  had  met 
our  ultimate  overthrow  in  half  the  time  consumed  by  the 
millions  who  effected  it— still,  our  dead  soldiers  would  be 
worthy  of  the  lasting  love  and  gratitude  of  our  people,  and 
their  sacrifices  and  struggles  entitled  to  sacred  commemora- 
tion; for  they  all  died  in  the  performance  of  their  duty  to 
the  political,  social,  and  religious  principles  held  sacred  by 
us  all !  The  war  they  engaged  in  was  not  waged  for  the 
conquest  of  territory  not  already  their  own ;  for  dominion 
over  their  Northern  brethren ;  or  for  the  enforcement  of 
their  opinions  and  convictions  upon  the  North ;  it  was  a  war 
for  their  rights  under  the  charter  bequeathed  to  them  in  the 
Constitution ;  it  was  a  war  in  maintenance  of  the  great  right 
of  a  free  people,  of  Anglo-Saxon  blood  and  history,  to  choose 
for  themselves  the  government  which  would  best  promote 
their  prosperity  and  happiness. 

The  brilliant  Senator  from  Alabama  has  well  said :  "The 
American  people  were  neither  seduced,  surprised,  nor  betrayed 
into  the  war.  The  conquerors  searched  in  vain  and  failed 
to  find  a  vicarious  sufferer  who  could  personate  the  alleged 
treason  of  the  people."  "There  was  no  treason  in  the  war. 
There  was  no  traitor  of  any  note  to  either  flag  during  the 
war.  Its  causes  had  such  deep  hold  on  the  convictions  of  the 
people  that  every  man  fought  as  he  would  have  fought  for  his 
family  or  his  religion." 

"For  more  than  forty  years  the  people  had  warned  and 
admonished  each  other  in  every  solemn  form,  that  warring 
opinions  and  angry  debates  were  surely  and  steadily  approach- 
ing a  crisis  that  would  compel  war.  Every  test  of  the  ballot 
had  developed  only  the  evident  determination  of  the  people 
on  both  sides  to  yield  nothing  to  each  other.  Many  com- 
promises were  devised  by  generous  patriots,  who  set  high 
examples  of  personal  sacrifice — but  their  counsels  were  re- 
jected." The  voice  of  warning  and  advice  was  lost  in  the 
tumult  of  heated  passion,  and  the  burning  sense  of  wrong 


ELLISON  CAPERS  339 

and  injury.  The  war  was  inevitable.  Aye — in  the  mystery 
of  that  good  Providence  that  rules  in  the  affairs  of  nations, 
as  of  individuals,  the  war  was  necessary  to  our  distracted 
country.  It  was  necessary  to  end  the  long,  bitter,  relentless 
debate  between  the  sections — necessary  to  decide  issues  which 
touched  the  interests  and  consciences  of  men  so  deeply,  so 
thoroughly,  so  absolutely,  that  the  sword  could  be  the  only 
arbitrator — it  was  necessary  to  bring  peace  and  prosperity 
to  our  country,  and  to  ennoble  our  people  through  the  fiery 
trial  of  suffering  and  loss  through  which  they  passed — and 
necessary  it  was,  because  it  was  the  last  resort  of  millions  of 
American  freemen  to  maintain  what  they  cherished  of  Ameri- 
can freedom  and  independence. 

Mr.  Davis,  in  his  Inaugural  Address  at  Montgomery,  in 
February,  i86r,  declared  for  himself,  and  for  the  people  of 
the  Southern  Confederacy,  the  motives  and  principles  which 
impelled  the  secession  of  the  Southern  States,  and  the  for- 
mation of  the  Confederate  government,  in  language  as  un- 
mistakable as  it  was  sincere:  The  declared  purposes,  said  the 
first  and  only  President  of  the  Confederacy,  the  declared  pur- 
poses of  the  compact  of  Union  from  which  we  have  with- 
drawn were  to  establish  justice,  insure  domestic  tranquillity, 
to  provide  for  the  common  defense,  to  promote  the  general 
welfare,  and  to  secure  the  blessings  of  liberty  for  ourselves 
and  our  posterity;  and  when,  in  the  judgment  of  the  sover- 
eign States,  now  comprising  this  Confederacy,  it  had  been  per- 
verted from  the  purposes  for  which  it  was  ordained,  and 
ceased  to  answer  the  ends  for  which  it  was  established,  an 
appeal  to  the  ballot  box  declared,  that  so  far  as  they  were 
concerned  the  government  created  by  that  compact  should 
cease  to  exist.  Tn  this,  continued  Mr.  Davis,  they  merely 
asserted  a  right  which  the  Declaration  of  Independence  of  1776 
defined  to  be  inalienable.  As  a  necessity,  not  a  choice,  we  have 
resorted  to  separation.  .  ,  .  If  a  just  perception  of 
mutual  interests  shall  permit  us  peaceably  to  pursue  our  sepa- 
rate political  career,  my  most  earnest  desire  will  have  been  ful- 


340  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

filled.  But  if  this  be  denied  us,  and  the  integrity  and  juris- 
diction of  our  territory  be  assailed,  it  will  but  remain  for  us 
with  a  firm  resolve  to  appeal  to  arms,  and  invoke  the  blessings 
of  Providence  upon  a  just  cause. 

This  was  the  language  of  President  Davis  at  his  inaugura- 
tion, spoken  in  behalf  of  the  newborn  government  which  he 
represented.  In  full  accord  with  its  declarations  of  peace 
and  good  will,  South  Carolina  sent  a  commission  of  her  dis- 
tinguished sons  to  Washington  to  adjust  all  questions  of  dis- 
pute between  herself  and  the  United  State  government;  and 
one  of  the  first  acts  of  the  Confederacy  was,  to  accredit  agents 
to  visit  Washington,  and  use  all  honorable  means  to  obtain  a 
satisfactory  adjustment  of  the  relations  of  independence  and 
peace  which  the  South  sought  to  maintain  for  herself  and 
towards  the  United  States.  "Both  efforts  failed,  and  the 
war,"  to  use  the  language  of  the  Confederate  Congress,  in  a 
most  solemn  appeal  to  the  fair  judgment  of  mankind,  "the 
war  was  forced  upon  us,  against  all  our  protests,  and  the  most 
earnest  efforts  to  the  contrary."  If  a  sense  of  duty  to  the 
Union;  or  to  the  Constitution,  as  the  North  construed  it;  or 
a  conscientious  purpose  to  abolish  slavery,  fired  the  Northern 
heart  and  inspired  the  Northern  government  to  invade  our  ter- 
ritory and  lay  waste  our  homes,  the  highest  instinct  of  our 
common  humanity,  the  deepest,  strongest,  holiest  motives  of 
the  human  heart,  the  sentiments  of  manhood  and  patriotism, 
summoned  the  South,  as  one  man,  to  the  Potomac  and  the 
Ohio,  to  the  seacoast,  and  to  the  Mississippi  to  hurl  the  invader 
back,  or  dispute  every  inch  of  his  advance.  In  this  determina- 
tion our  whole  people  concurred.  There  is  scarcely  a  parallel 
in  history  to  the  unanimity,  the  enthusiasm,  the  ardor  with 
which  our  whole  people  responded  to  the  sound  of  the  trumpet. 
This  unanimity  cannot  be  appreciated  except  by  those  who 
were  eye-witnesses  and  participants. 

Whatever  differences  existed  among  us,  they  were  all  laid 
aside  and  forgotten  in  the  one  com.mon  Southern  impulse 
and  determination  to  dispute,  by  force  of  arms,  the  right  of 


ELLISON  CAPERS  341 

the  United  States  government  to  coerce  us  into  compliance 
with  sentiments  and  principles  we  had  solemnly  rejected,  and 
a  government  we  regarded  unfriendly,  inimical,  and  injurious 
to  our  interests. 

Your  own  Governor  Perry,  true  man  as  he  was  to  his  con- 
victions, and  brave  as  a  lion  to  maintain  his  principles,  sac- 
rificed the  political  teaching  of  his  whole  life  on  the  altar  of 
his  manhood,  and  took  his  place  to  defend  the  Southern  Con- 
federacy. 

In  his  beautiful  and  classic  tribute  to  the  character  and 
memory  of  the  gallant  Pettigrew.  Mr.  William  Henry  Tres- 
cot  describes  this  unanimous  rush  of  the  South  to  arms,  in 
language  accurate,  as  it  is  just  and  eloquent :  "Never  in  the 
history  of  the  world  has  there  been  a  nobler  response  to  a 
more  thoroughlv  recognized  duty!  Nowhere  anything  more 
truly  glorious  than  this  outburst  of  the  youth  and  manhood 
of  the  South.  And  now  that  the  end  has  come,  and  we  have 
seen  it.  it  seems  to  me  that  to  a  man  of  humanity.  I  care  not 
in  what  section  his  sympathies  mav  haA^e  been  nurtured,  there 
never  has  been  a  sadder  or  sublimer  spectacle  than  these  ear- 
nest and  devoted  men,  their  young  and  vigorous  columns 
marching  to  battle,  like  the  combatants  of  ancient  Rome,  be- 
neath the  imperial  throne  in  the  amphitheater,  and  exclaiming 
with  uplifted  arms,  moraturi  te  salntant' !  .  .  .  And  if 
in  ordinary  times  it  is  one  of  the  saddest  of  human  experi- 
ences to  see  the  sudden  destruction  of  great  gifts,  the  extinc- 
tion of  fair  promises,  the  uncompleted  and  fragmentary 
achievement  of  useful  and  honorable  lives,  with  what  bitter 
reo-ret  must  we  not  review  that  long  list  of  the  dead,  whose 
virtues,  whose  genius  and  whose  youth,  we  sacrificed  in  vain. 
To  the  memory  of  these  men  we  owe  a  peculiarlv  tender  care. 
Thev  went  to  death  at  our  bidding,  and  the  simple  and  heroic 
language  of  one  not  the  least  among  them,  spoke  the  spirit 
of  them  all.  'Tell  the  Governor.'  said  Maxcy  Gregg,  as  he 
was  dvinf>-.  'that  if  T  am  to  die  noAv.  T  giA^e  my  life  cheerfullv 
for  the  independence  of  South  Carolina.' " 


342  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

"Their  leaf  has  perished  in  the  green, 
And  while  we  breathe  beneath  the  sun, 
The  world,  which  credits  what  is  done, 
Is  cold  to  all  that  might  have  been." 

But  now  that  a  quarter  of  a  century  has  cooled  the  passions 
and  tempered  the  prejudices  excited  by  years  of  war,  and  a 
calmer  and  fairer  discernment  is  brought  to  the  consideration 
of  the  great  struggle  and  its  causes,  the  earnestness,  the  valor, 
the  self-sacrifice,  the  heroic  devotion  of  the  Southern  soldier 
is  more  and  more  felt,  and  more  frankly  conceded. 

In  an  article  in  the  Century  for  this  month,  a  distin- 
guished soldier  of  the  United  States  Army,  who  held  high 
command  in  the  war,  writing  of  the  "valor  and  skill  of  the 
Civil  War,"  thus  truthfully  and  gracefully  speaks  of  the 
Confederate  soldier :  "The  Southerner  felt  that  he  was  fight- 
ing for  his  home  and  fireside.  This  greatest  of  all  inspira- 
tions we  [of  the  North]  lacked.  He  fought  with  an  intimate 
knowledge  of  the  territory,  with  the  aid  of  every  farmer,  in- 
deed of  every  woman.  He  was  more  in  earnest,  as  a  rule, 
as  will  be  every  soldier  whose  fields  and  homesteads  are  being 
wasted  and  burned.  .  .  .  It  is  not  difficult  to  state  the 
task  of  the  South.  It  was  simply  to  conquer  its  independence. 
No  student  of  the  war,  no  old  soldier,  no  American,  but  har- 
bors the  warmest  admiration  for  what  the  Southerner  did. 
He  began  the  war  with  a  vow  to  win  or  die  in  the  last  ditch. 
He  did  not  win,  but  he  did  actually  do  the  other  thing.  He 
gave  up  the  struggle  because  he  had  practically  used  up  his 
last  man  and  fired  his  last  cartridge.  Nor  he.  nor  any  other, 
could  do  more." 

Instituting  a  comparison  between  the  defensive  campaijjns 
of  the  South  and  the  defense  of  Prussia  by  the  great  Fred- 
erick, this  writer  further  says  : 

"Frederick  rarelv  had  in  the  field  more  than  one-fourth  of 
the  force  of  his  enemies,  but  on  the  battle-fields,  by  superior 
strategy,  central  position,  interior  lines,  and  nimble  legs,  he 
usually  managed  to  oppose  to  them  one-half  as  many  at  the 


ELLISON  CAPERS  343 

point  of  the  actual  contact.  Owing  to  its  extraordinary  exer- 
tions, the  South  had  under  arms  until  the  last  third  of  the  war 
an  averao-e  of  about  three-fourths  of  the  force  of  the  North." 
He  further  asserts,  in  explanation  of  the  time  which  the 
United  States  Government  took  with  its  vast  resources,  to 
"put  down  the  rebellion,"  that  up  to  1864  the  forces  of  the 
North  and  South  "at  the  point  of  actual  contact"  in  battle 
"were  not  far  from  equal." 

In  this  article  of  General  Dodge  the  population  of  the  South, 
including  slaves,  is  put  down  at  five  and  a  half  millions,  and 
that  of  the  North  at  three  and  a  half  times  greater,  or  under 
twenty  millions.  According  to  General  Dodge's  table  the 
South,  from  a  population  of  five  and  a  half  millions,  one-third 
of  whom  were  slaves,  with  the  usual  proportion  of  aged  men, 
women,  children,  and  non-combatants,  had  in  the  field  under 
arms,  on  the  ist  of  January,  1863.  690,000  men!  If  this  is 
true,  then  every  white  man  and  boy  in  the  South  who  could 
shoulder  a  musket  and  endure  the  fatigues  of  war  was  a  sol- 
dier in  the  field!  Much  nearer  the  truth  are  the  carefully 
compiled  tables  of  the  Southern  flistorical  Society,  submitted 
to  the  inspection  and  criticism  of  that  accomplished  soldier 
and  gentleman.  General  S.  Cooper,  the  A.  &  I.  G.  of  the  C.  S. 
A.  and  published  in  the  Southern  Historical  Society  papers. 
In  using  the  word  truth.  I  do  not  mean  to  cast  the  slightest 
reflection  upon  the  truthfulness  of  the  brave  soldier  from 
whom  I  quote  the  figures.  He  was  too  gallant  a  man,  and 
too  true  a  soldier  to  his  country,  to  write  an3^thing  but  that 
which  he  believed  to  be  truth.  By  these  tables,  which  General 
Cooper  pronounced  "as  nearly  critically  correct,"  the  Con- 
federate forces,  actively  engaged  during  the  whole  war, 
amounted  in  round  numbers  to  600.000.  Of  these  600,000 
five-sixths,  500,000.  were  lost  in  the  great  and  unequal  strug- 
gle; 200,000  from  death  in  battle,  wounds,  and  disease; 
200.000  shut  up  in  Northern  prisons  and  refused  exchange, 
in  order  to  crush  the  rebellion:  100,000  discharged  by  reason 
of  age,  sickness,  and  disability,  or  lost  to  the  South  by  deser- 


344  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

tion!  And  when  the  memorable  spring  of  1865  came  100,000 
Confederate  soldiers,  half -clad,  half-shod,  poorly  fed,  stood 
by  their  colors,  scattered  from  Petersburg  to  the  Mississippi, 
and  beyond,  confronting  1,000,000  Federal  troops,  superbly 
armed,  perfectly  equipped,  well  fed  and  clothed,  with  the 
resources  of  all  the  world  at  their  command. 

Well  may  the  gallant  General  Dodge  write  that  the  South 
had  practically  used  up  her  last  man  and  fired  her  last  car- 
tridge. 

We  of  the  South  have  accepted  this  result  as  the  will  of 
God  concerning  us ;  and  since  ours  are  the  armies  that  were 
surrendered,  and  ours  the  flag  that  was  furled,  and  ours  the 
cause  that  was  lost,  on  us,  and  on  us  alone,  is  laid  the  high  duty 
of  maintaining  the  character  and  the  spirit  and  the  courage 
and  the  patriotism  of  the  men  who  carried  us  through  the  con- 
test with  honor,  and  sustained  it  to  the  bitter  end.  It  is  the 
glory  of  our  people ;  alike  the  sure  token  of  their  untarnished 
fame,  and  the  certain  prophecy  of  their  future  happiness  anrl 
prosperity,  as  a  people,  that  they  have  never  ceased  to  honor 
the  cause  they  lost,  or  to  hold  in  most  sacred  esteem  "the 
virtue,  and  the  intellect,  and  the  courage  which  were  piled  high 
in  exulting  sacrifice"  on  the  sacred  altar  of  their  faith. 

I  could  wish,  my  friends  in  Greenville,  that  I  could  read 
to  you  to-day  the  full  roll  of  your  Confederate  dead.  When 
T  had  the  honor  to  address  you  on  memorial  day  in  1879.  I 
expressed  the  hope  that  such  a  roll  would  be  prepared  and 
preserved  in  the  archives  of  the  country.  Who  has  preserved 
the  roll  of  those  true  men.  my  comrades  in  camp  and  on  the 
field,  who  fell  with  the  gallant,  modest,  faithful  Major  O'Neall 
in  the  night  attack  at  Kennesaw  Mountain,  and  were  buried 
by  the  enemy?  Survivors  of  the  Sixteenth  South  Carolina 
Volunteers,  do  not  allow  another  memorial  day  to  come  with 
its  garlands  and  its  memories  and  find  this  duty  to  our  com- 
rades unfulfilled.  Let  Bolin?  from  the  Mountains,  and  Mc- 
Cullough  from  Dunklin,  and  Funnan  from  the  city,  and  Crit- 
tenden and  Blythe  and  Caele  and  Hawthorne  and  Perry  and 


ELLISON  CAPERS  345 

Maudlin,  and  all  the  old  soldiers,  rally  the  living  men  and 
write  in  lasting  characters  the  names  of  our  dead  comrades 
who  sleep  in  unknown  graves. 

The  Butler  Guards  with  becoming  pride  have  recorded  the 
spot  and  the  circumstances  where  fell  at  Gettysburg  Pulliam 
and  Pool,  and  Jennings,  and  Markley,  and  Smith,  and  Gil- 
reath — how  first  Manassas  received  the  offering  of  John 
Payne,  and  Scruggs  at  Lewenville;  the  brave  and  generous 
Watson  on  Malvern  Hill,  the  gallant  James  Dyer  at  Chicka- 
mauga,  Smyer  and  Turpin  at  the  Wilderness,  Williams  at 
Spotsylvania  Court  House,  Shumate  and  Gerard  Dyer  and 
Goodlett  at  Cold  Harbor,  Garmany  at  Cedar  Creek,  Randolph 
Bacon  at  Charlestown.  Norman  Henning  at  Bentonville,  and 
Tracy  at  Appomattox  Court  House. 

These  men  fell  in  battle,  or  died  of  wounds;  and  others 
fell  by  the  wayside,  worn  down  by  the  burdens  of  their  ser- 
vice or  wasted  by  disease.  So  fell  Turner  and  Pool,  and 
Goodlette  and  Carson,  and  Mauldin  and  Dr.  Gibson,  and 
Joseph  Gibson  and  Holland  and  Snyder,  and  Baldwin  and 
Huff.  Men  of  Greenville  laid  down  their  lives  in  Mississippi, 
at  Dalton,  at  Atlanta,  on  the  bloodiest  of  all  fields,  Franklin, 
and  at  Nashville. 

And  there  are  the  honored  dead  of  the  Brooks  Troop;  of 
Earle's  and  Holtzclaw's  batteries,  of  Bozeman's.  and  Austin's 
and  Goodlett's  companies.  It  is  with  a  feeling  of  honest 
pride  that  I  can  read  to-night  an  extract  from  a  letter  written 
me  in  1879.  by  the  last  colonel  of  the  Sixteenth  and  Twenty- 
fourth  South  Carolina  Volunteers,  consolidated,  bearing  the 
testimony  of  a  gallant  commander  to  the  faithfulness  of  his 
men  to  the  end  of  the  great  contest.  In  response  to  the  invita- 
tion of  the  survivors  of  the  Sixteenth  South  Carolina  Volun- 
teers to  attend  a  reunion  meeting  here  in  Greenville  in  August. 
1879,  Colonel  B.  Burgh  Smith  writes  to  me :  "I  will  yield  to 
none  in  warm  friendship  for  my  old  comrades  and  in  admira- 
tion for  the  fortitude  and  gallantry  of  the  veterans  of  the 
Sixteenth  and  Twenty- fourth,  whom  I  had  the  honor  to  com- 


346  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

mand  at  the  close  of  the  struggle.  The  four  hundred  and 
seventy  (I  think)  men  of  those  regiments  that  surrendered 
with  me,  representing  the  winnowed  grain  of  the  three  thou- 
sand that  had  been  from  time  to  time  borne  upon  their  rolls, 
were  unsurpassed  by  any  body  of  men  in  the  Confederate 
army.  Soldiers  they  were  true  and  tried,  and  I  assert  that 
no  body  of  men  marched  to  their  homes  in  better  or  more  sol- 
dierly 'form'  than  did  these  two  regiments,  that  represented 
one-half  of  South  Carolina's  contribution  to  the  army  of  the 
West."  Brave  and  true  men  all!  Honored  be  their  memo- 
ries forever. 

And  to  you.  young  men  of  this  generation,  sons  and 
brothers  of  these  heroes,  I  would  speak  in  the  earnest  words 
of  a  gallant  Georgian:  "As  they  died  in  duty,  live  in  duty; 
as  they  died  for  country,  live  for  country;  as  they  died  for 
liberty,  live  for  liberty!" 

And  as  the  future  in  its  march  brings  on  the  new;  an  in- 
spiration at  its  best  of  the  old;  as  it  comes  to  you  with  its 
duties,  may  you,  in  this  grand  land  of  ours,  rebuild  each 
waste, — restore  each  barren  spot, — improve  her!  forward  her! 
until  she  blossoms  like  a  rose, — and  then  lay  it,  the  red  rose 
amongst  nations,  at  the  feet  of  our  heroes,  and  tell  them, 
"this  we  learned  from  you — this  we  do  for  you." 

This  is  the  true  purpose — this  the  hallowed  lesson  of  memo- 
rial day!  To  the  women  of  the  South  a  debt  of  deepest  grati- 
tude is  due  from  ever\^  patriotic  heart — from  every  man  who 
respects  himself  and  honors  our  dead, — for  the  faithful  and 
true  observance  of  our  memorial  day. 

After  the  Mexican  War  Kentucky  brought  back  to  her  own 
soil  the  bodies  of  her  fallen  soldiers,  and  laid  their  ashes  to 
rest  at  her  capital.  Over  their  graves,  inspired  by  woman's 
devotion  and  love,  she  erected  a  tall  and  graceful  column  of 
purest  marble,  bearing  the  names  of  the  battles  they  fought 
for  the  honor  of  their  country.  In  recognition  of  the  devo- 
tion of  the  women  of  Kentucky,  the  State  crowned  the  lofty 
memorial  shaft  with  the  statue  of  a  woman,  with  hands  bear- 


ELLISON  CAPERS  347 

ing  chaplets  of  flowers,  uplifted  in  blessing  over  "the  silent 
bivouac  of  the  dead." 

Fitting  emblem  of  the  constant  faith,  that  ever  blessed  with 
hopeful  love  the  Confederate  soldier! 

Silent,  but  eloquent  monument  of  the  patience  and  forti- 
tude and  unshaken  constancy  of  our  mothers,  and  wives,  and 
sisters,  and  daughters! 


SPEECH  OF  GEN.  ELLISON  CAPERS  AT  THE  UN- 
VEILING OF  THE  CONFEDERATE  MONUMENT 
AT  CHICKAMAUGA  BATTLEFIELD,  MAY  27, 
1901. 

Fellow-Citizens  and  Confederate  Comrades: 

All  hail  to  the  monument! 

Public  monuments  are  the  recognized  symbols  of  worthy 
history.  They  are  enduring  exponents  of  character.  The 
lessons  which  high  example  and  honorable  history  teach  are 
written  not  alone  in  the  perishable  pages  of  books,  or  in  the 
fading  memories  of  a  generation.  True  patriotism  has  ever 
engraven  them  in  stone,  and  builded  high  their  immortality  in 
granite  and  Parian  marble. 

The  monument  at  Thermopylae,  with  its  simple  inscription, 
"Go,  stranger,  and  tell  at  Lacedaemon  that  we  died  here  in 
obedience  to  her  laws,"  is  held  sacred  to  valor,  to  honor,  and 
to  patriotic  devotion  to  country,  and  has  ever  taught  to  all  the 
ages  those  holy  sentiments  and  noble  attributes  of  the  human 
soul,  though  the  band  of  vSpartans  were  all  slain,  and  their 
splendid  leader's  body  hung  by  Xerxes  on  a  gallows,  and  their 
country  overrun. 

If  our  monuments  had  no  ethical  value,  if  they  were  not 
the  symbols  of  an  honest  and  earnest  people  in  an  honest  and 
earnest  struggle,  they  might  justly  be  regarded  as  signs  of 
disloyalty  to  the  government  which  overpowered  their  efforts, 
crushed  their  armies,  destroyed  their  resources,  forced  the  sur- 
render of  their  cherished  hopes,  and  compelled  their  return  to 
the  LTnion.  But  our  great  country  knows  full  well  that  the 
men  and  women  who  build  them  consecrate  them  to  the  mem- 
ory of  virtue  and  valor;  and  that  their  virtue  and  valor  stand 
pledged  to  abide  by  the  union  of  our  country  as  alike  the  will 

348 


ELLISON  CAPERS  349 

and  wisdom  of  an  overruling  Providence,  and  the  dictate  of  a 
consequent  duty.  If  this  monument  did  not  commemorate 
virtue,  the  virtuous  could  not  participate  in  these  ceremonies. 

If  this  great  occasion  could  not  be  recognized  by  the  Gov- 
ernment under  which  we  live,  no  ex-Confederate  soldier  who 
gave  his  parole  of  honor  when  he  laid  down  his  arms  in  a 
hopeless  struggle  would  be  willing  to  violate  a  soldier's  honor 
by  his  participation  here  to-day.  If  this  monument  fostered 
the  spirit  of  discontent,  and  was  designed  to  keep  alive  the 
ashes  of  burnt-out  passions,  the  faithful  followers  of  our 
Divine  Master  could  not  here  assemble,  as  to  a  patriotic  con- 
\'ocation,  and  invoke  the  smile  and  blessing  of  Almighty  God 
upon  this  noble  tribute  to  virtue  and  to  truth. 

We  feel  it  good  to  be  here ! 

There  is  an  odor  of  sanctity  about  this  battle-field  which 
humbles  and  yet  exalts  our  spirits,  and  sends  us  back  to  our 
duties  and  responsibilities  with  a  deeper  sense  of  the  truth 
that  the  real  value  of  every  sacrifice  is  its  moral  value,  and 
not  the  value  of  the  prize  for  which  the  sacrifice  was  made. 
The  prize  may  be  lost,  or  torn  from  an  enfeebled  hand  by  a 
hand  more  powerful,  yet  the  noble  spirit  and  the  real  heroism 
of  the  sacrifice  remain  forever! 

They  live  in  memory ;  they  live  in  history ;  they  are  with  us 
in  our  monuments,  to  refine  our  selfishness,  to  purify  our 
ambitions,  to  chasten  our  hopes,  and  to  exalt  our  courage. 

I  count  it,  my  fellow-citizens,  amongst  the  dearest  experi- 
ences of  my  life  that  I  knew  my  comrades  and  had  the  honor 
of  being  a  fellow-soldier  with  them;  that  I  witnessed  their 
cheerfulness  in  camp  and  their  splendid  courage  in  the  field; 
that  I  learned  from  them  some  of  the  best  lessons  of  my  life, 
as  I  saw  them,  poorly  clad,  and  poorly  fed,  and  poorly  paid, 
march  willingly  to  their  hard  tasks  and  fight  their  unequal 
battles.  It  is  an  inspiration  and  strength  to  the  greatest  and 
best  to  see  men  die  in  this  high  spirit,  and  his  must  be  a  sordid 
heart  that  can  feel  no  exaltation  of  his  nature  here  to-day 
when  the  great  Government  under  which  we  live,  and  against 


350  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

which  we  strove  with  all  our  might  and  main,  hails  ex-Con- 
federate soldiers  on  a  battle-field  of  common  glory,  and  salutes 
with  its  triumphant  flag  the  monument  South  Carolina  has 
erected  to  Confederate  valor. 

And  now,  my  countrymen.  I  have  the  honor,  which  I  most 
dearly  prize,  of  directing  the  unveiling  of  this  sacred  monu- 
ment on  this  hallowed  spot.  I  shall  call  the  names  of  four 
girls  from  South  Carolina  who  represent  the  four  commands 
of  South  Carolina  troops  who  had  the  honor  to  share  in  the 
sacrifice  of  this  great  battlefield.  These  fair  daughters  of  our 
mother,  the  State,  with  their  own  faithful  hands,  will  present 
to  your  view  South  Carolina's  tribute  of  honor  and  devotion 
to  her  faithful  sons. 


SERMON  DELIVERED  ON  THE  DAY  APPOINTED 
FOR  PRAYER  AND  HUMILIATION  ON  THE 
OCCASION  OF  THE  BURIAL  OF  PRESIDENT 
GARFIELD,  MONDAY,  SEPTEMBER  26,  1881. 

Text:  "Surely  the  wrath  of  man  shall  praise  thee;  the  remainder  of 
wrath  shalt  thou  restrain." — Psalm  Lxxvi.  10. 

We  have  assembled  to-day,  my  dear  brethren,  to  cominemo- 
rate  one  of  the  most  impressive  events  in  the  history  of  our 
country. 

With  remarkable  agreement  the  minds  of  all  Christians  have 
been  turned  to  God.  the  Almighty  Sovereign  Ruler  of  the 
Universe,  and  men  have  agreed  everywhere  in  our  land  that 
He  is  speaking  to  us  in  the  sad  event  of  our  late  President's 
wounding  and  suffering  and  death. 

Human  hopes  have  been  disappointed,  human  aspirations 
quenched,  human  love  most  sorely  grieved,  human  plans 
utterly  prostrated,  and  human  skill  and  boasted  science  baf- 
fled, blinded,  made  powerless !  With  one  voice,  and  one  wish, 
and  one  heart,  our  people  have  carried  their  prayer  for  the 
life  of  the  late  President  to  the  Throne  of  Grace;  but  the 
answer  has  been  a  disappointment !  Day  by  day,  as  the  zealous 
reporters  for  the  press  have  sent  us  their  comments  upon  the 
bulletins  of  the  ever  kind  and  watchful  physicians,  we  have 
formed  opinions,  only  to  see  them  contradicted  by  the  onward 
progress  of  events,  until  men  ceased  to  form  opinions,  and 
knew  not  what  to  expect.  The  only  certain  things,  of  which  all 
have  felt  assured,  were  the  patience  and  faith  and  courage  of 
the  suft'erer  and  the  anxious  love  that  watched  over  his  suf- 
ferings. And  when  the  end  came  and  the  good  President 
ceased  to  suffer,  and,  we  trust,  through  the  merits  of  the  Re- 
deemer, entered  into  the  rest  that  remaineth  for  the  people  of 

351 


352  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

God,  death  came  from  secondary  causes,  unknown,  unlooked- 
for,  unrecognized  by  man !  Surely,  brethren,  in  all  this  we 
must  see  the  hand  of  an  o\^erruling  Providence. 

We  must  recognize  the  great  lesson  of  the  text.  God  is 
speaking  to  the  American  people  through  this  signal  event  in 
their  history.  And  I  cannot  better  illustrate  the  text,  I  cannot 
more  clearly  point  out -its  pregnant  meaning,  than  to  summon 
your  attention  to  a  few  particulars  in  our  very  recent  history, 
which  have  an  impressive  connection  with  the  sentiments  and 
feelings  that  move  us  all  to-day ! 

We  have  only  to  go  back  a  few  months  to  recall  the  harsh 
and  bitter  words,  the  pointed  sarcasm,  the  languages  of  re- 
proach, the  charges  of  fraud  and  infamy,  with  which  a  partisan 
spirit  made  us  speak  of  the  Republican  candidate  for  the 
Presidency.  How  changed  is  all  this !  How  altered  are  our 
feelings!  How  different  our  judgments  !  How  much  modified 
our  opinions!  How  sincere  is  the  reverence  with  which  we 
have  prayed  for  the  officer  whom  but  yesterday  we  pronounced 
unworthy  of  the  office.  God  has  rebuked  our  wrath,  my 
brethren,  and  taught  us  its  injustice  and  folly  by  calling  up  the 
nobler  feelings  of  generosity  and  sympathy  and  kindness  and 
brotherly  love,  and  all  honor  to  our  people  that  they  have  had 
the  manliness  to  express  without  stint  the  sympathy  they  have 
truly  felt  for  the  man  whose  political  leadership  they  had 
bitterly  rejected! 

All  honor  to  our  people  that  they  assemble  to-day  to  respect 
his  memory  and  to  receive  the  lesson  of  his  death !  Let  it 
sink  down  into  our  hearts,  beloved,  and  rebuke  forever  the 
unthinking  carelessness  with  which  we  assail  the  characters  of 
our  fellow-men,  whether  they  are  opposed  to  us  or  whether 
they  differ  with  us;  the  guilty  freedom  with  which  we  are 
forever  judging  of  one  another's  motives  ;  the  sinful  folly  with 
which  we  are  using  our  tongues  in  condemnation  of  our  oppo- 
nents, or  those  whom  we  dislike,  or  who  may  dislike  us ! 

Fresh  from  the  passion,  the  strife,  the  turmoil,  the  divisions, 
the  bitterness,  and  the  terrible  sin  of  a  mighty  political  con- 


ELLISON  CAPERS  353 

test,  God  in  his  wonderful  providence  drew  the  American 
people  around  the  person  of  a  great  sufferer,  and  that  sufferer 
was  the  victor  in  this  contest.  In  these  sufferings  God  has 
led  us,  brethren,  into  the  home  and  into  the  heart  of  the  man. 
By  his  gentleness,  by  his  love,  by  his  unmunnuring  submission, 
by  his  courage  and  faith,  by  his  freedom  from  resentment, 
and  by  the  self-command  which  uttered  through  those  eighty 
days  of  pain  no  word  of  impatient,  uncharitable  reproach. 
God  has  taught  his  opponents  that  they  had  misjudged  him  in 
their  hot  zeal — that  he  was  worthy  to  be  President  of  the 
United  States.  Surely,  my  brethren,  in  the  tribute  of  respect 
we  bring  our  dead  President  we  praise  the  overruling  Provi- 
dence which  has  made  the  passions  of  man  rebound  to  His 
glory,  and  to  our  good. 

If  ever  an  event  in  history  illustrated  this  great  truth,  it  finds 
that  illustration  in  the  event  that  has  assembled  us  in  the 
Lord's  house  to-day.  The  sentiments  which  with  wonderful 
unanimity  have  been  felt  and  expressed  by  our  people  for  the 
past  weeks,  are  the  sentiments  and  feelings  which  do  honor  to 
God.  in  which  he  delights,  which  are  revealed  to  us  as  traits 
of  His  grace. 

When  a  whole  people  do  honor  to  the  steadfast  love  which  a 
mother  gives  her  son,  and  the  reverence  and  respect  which  the 
son  gives  his  mother ;  when  the  sweet  love  of  home  is  revealed 
in  its  purest  and  noblest  forms;  when  the  holy  obligations  of 
the  family  are  manifested  in  the  most  devoted  faithfulness, 
and  by  their  own  gentle,  yet  potent  sway,  move  and  guide 
the  heart  of  millions!  hush  the  passions  of  a  mighty  nation! 
stop  the  voice  of  strife  and  rebuke  the  rage  of  malice!  surely, 
brethren,  God  is  praised  in  this  hour  of  our  disappointment, 
and  in  this  sad  event  of  the  President's  long  illness,  his  patiently 
borne  sufferings,  his  untimely  death ! 

From  the  White  House,  from  the  cottage  at  Long  Branch, 
through  days  and  weeks  and  months  of  bitter  trial  and  anxious 
hope  we  have  seen  the  greatest  office  of  our  country  sanctified 
in  the  eyes  of  our  people.    We  have  seen  the  quiet  duties  of 


354  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

home,  and  the  virtues  of  home  life,  confer  a  dignity  on  the 
Chief  Magistrate  of  our  land,  and  illumine  his  character  with 
a  light  of  love  and  truth  which  has  won  the  admiration  of  both 
continents  and  inspired  the  sympathies  and  taught  the  hearts 
of  the  most  enlightened  rulers  of  the  w^orld.  God  is  impressing 
His  broken,  neglected  and  often  despised  law:  "Honor  thy 
father,"  etc.  "Let  every  one  of  you  in  particular  so  love  his 
wife;  and  the  wife  see  that  she  reverence  her  husband  as  being 
heirs  together  of  the  grace  of  life."  "I  say  unto  you,  whoso- 
ever shall  put  away  his  wife,  except  it  be  for  fornication,  and 
shall  marry  another,  committeth  adultery,  and  whosoever 
marrieth  her  that  is  put  away  doth  commit  adultery." 

Let  the  lesson  of  the  sanctity,  the  permanency,  the  essential 
dignity,  the  sweet  beneficence  of  the  home,  God's  oldest  institu- 
tion for  man's  blessing,  sink  down  into  the  hearts  of  His  people. 
Let  our  country  learn  the  truth  that  her  citizens  are  fashioned 
in  their  homes,  and  not  in  the  selfish  wrangle  and  the  corrupt- 
ing strife  of  politics  and  elections.  Let  our  youth  remember 
that  the  greatest  earthly  glory  that  can  come  to  man.  the 
noblest,  best,  and  brightest  honors  he  can  win,  the  grandest 
office  he  can  fill- — none  of  these  things,  nor  all  of  them  to- 
gether, so  enrich  the  character,  and  ennoble  the  man.  giving 
pledge  of  earthly  happiness  and  eternal  peace,  as  faithfulness 
to  the  law  and  the  spirit  of  a  Christian  home! 

In  the  mad  conquest  for  pleasure,  for  mere  momentary 
gratification,  how  sadly  is  this  law  and  spirit  of  home  despised ! 
In  the  madder  quest  for  riches,  how  is  it  violated  and  abused ! 
In  the  blind  devotion  to  a  wordly  dictation,  how  is  it  ignored ! 
The  social  gatherings  at  home,  the  social  pastimes  of  home, 
the  social  amusements  of  home,  innocent,  pure,  free  from  the 
snares  of  vice  and  the  pitfalls  of  ruin,  are  exchanged  for  public 
dances  and  heterogeneous  assemblies.  The  obligations  of 
paternal  oversight  are  substituted  by  the  irresponsibilities  of 
the  chaperon,  and  the  will  and  wish  of  father  and  mother 
give  way  to  the  rule  which  "everybody  observes,"  Business 
and  pleasure  rule  our  land. 


ELLISON  CAPERS  355 

Our  husbands  and  fathers  must  grow  rich,  must  make  their 
profits  and  sales,  though  they  meet  their  famihes  only  at  the 
breakfast  table!  The  young  must  have  their  enjoyment  and 
meet  their  so-called  friends,  though  they  live  on  the  streets, 
and  form  their  tastes  and  manners,  and  their  religion  too,  from 
standards  of  their  own  choosing.  It  has  been  well  and  truly 
said  that  there  are  influences  peculiar  to  us  as  Americans,  with 
our  free  political  institutions,  which  are  fast  developing  a  type 
of  precocious  youth  not  pleasant  to  look  upon.  We  are  too 
fast  losing  the  habits  of  home  authority,  filial  reverence.  It 
has  been  said  of  us  that  we  have  as  much  family  government 
as  ever,  but  the  children  govern  the  parents.  We  have  few 
children  nowadays.  Our  infants  leap  from  the  nursery  into 
the  drawing-room ;  and  while  in  stable  England  the  girl  or 
boy  has  hardly  left  the  retreat  of  home,  here  in  America  they 
are  already  veterans  in  the  ways  of  fashion,  and  society  is 
quite  surrendered  to  them.  We  may  grow  in  wealth  and  the 
wonderful  developments  of  our  vast  natural  resources,  but  let 
these  fast  habits  of  the  time,  this  mad  following  of  pleasure, 
this  greed  for  gain,  eat  into  the  heart  of  our  home  life  and 
piety,  and  the  whole  body  must  die,  poisoned  in  its  very  blood. 
("Washburn's  Social  Law,"  p.  102.) 

God  has  consecrated  the  home  as  the  basis  of  all  true  life, 
and  he  who  despises  its  restraints,  or  violates  its  law  of  dutiful 
love,  despises  his  own  best  life  and  wrongs  his  own  soul.  But 
I  must  ask  you,  dear  brethren,  to  receive  one  more  lesson  from 
the  hour.  What  are  all  the  dignities  and  honors  of  this  life, 
its  grandest  pomp  and  its  mightiest  achievements,  its  fairest 
promises  and  its  surest  hopes,  compared  with  the  realities  of 
sorrow  and  the  terrible  certainties  of  death  and  eternitv! 

Compare  the  grand  but  mournful  procession  which  at  this 
very  moment  is  marching  to  the  grave  of  the  late  President, 
with  the  surging  excited  masses  that  surrounded  the  Capitol 
on  the  fourth  of  last  March !  Think  of  the  sorrowing  mother 
and  the  bereaved  wife,  and  fatherless  children  of  to-day.  and 
compare  them  with  the  happy  family  of  last  March. 


356  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

Do  the  glories  of  that  past  day,  does  the  great  office  it  con- 
ferred, do  the  excitements  and  hopes,  the  power,  the  grandeur 
of  rank,  the  ample  provision  for  every  want,  the  splendid 
occasion  to  use  the  grandest  of  this  world's  opportunities, — 
do  these  things  minister  to  bleeding  hearts  ?  Do  they  support 
the  sinking  soul  ?  Do  they  bestow  the  courage  of  faith  or  the 
patience  of  hope?  Can  they  fill  the  void  in  the  human  soul 
which  God  has  made  with  his  own  hand?  Let  the  greatest, 
the  best,  the  truest  of  this  world's  mighty  potentates  answer 
for  us  all  in  the  Christian  language  of  the  good  queen  of 
England :  "May  God  comfort  you,  as  He  alone  can." 

What  a  lesson,  brethren,  to  our  public  men.  who  are  wor- 
shiping their  offices,  and  making  a  shrine  of  their  ambition! 
What  a  lesson  to  the  sensualist  who  is  living  for  the  hour, 
and  worshiping  this  life!  What  a  rebuke  to  the  infidel,  who 
makes  his  plan  of  life  with  no  reference  to  Providence,  and 
finds  his  God  and  his  heaven  in  his  earthly  prospects  and  his 
worldly  hopes ! 

And  what  an  enforcement  of  the  Christian's  faith  do  we 
find  in  this  great  national  affliction ! 

The  Supreme  Ruler  of  this  universe  is  the  God  and  Father 
of  us  all.  His  will  is  supreme.  He  disposes  of  all  man's 
propositions,  and  His  dispositions  are  wise.  "He  doeth  all 
things  well." 

If.  my  dear  brethren,  we  acknowledge  God  in  this  hour,  if 
the  lesson  of  the  past  few  weeks  teach  us  that  He  and  not  man 
is  the  Sovereign,  the  Governor,  the  Law-Giver  and  Lord  of  us 
all — if  we,  as  a  people,  shall  fear  him  more  and  worship  him 
more  and  keep  his  commandments  more  truly,  then  with  the 
Psalmist  may  we  say:  "It  is  good  for  our  country  that  the 
Lord  has  afflicted  her." 

"Before  I  was  in  trouble  I  went  wrong,  but  now  I  will  keep 
the  law  of  God." 

"Surely  the  wrath  of  God  shall  praise  thee,  the  remainder  of 
wrath  shalt  thou  restrain." 


CONSECRATION    OF    THE    CHURCH    IN    SELMA, 
ALABAMA,  OCTOBER  19,  1881. 

"Behold,  I  will  build  an  house  to  the  name  of  the  Lord,  mj'  God,  to 
dedicate  it  to  Him,  and  to  burn  Him  sweet  incense,  and  for  the  con- 
tinual shewbread  and  for  the  burnt  offerings  morning  and  evening,  on 
the  Sabbaths  and  on  the  new  moons,  and  on  the  solemn  feasts  of  the 
Lord  our  God.     This  is  an  ordinance  forever  to  Israel." — 2  Chron.  ii,  4. 

The  text  which  I  have  just  read  interprets  the  meaning  of 
our  service  to-day.  It  is  the  language  of  obedient  faith!  It 
is  the  expression  of  reverent  love!  It  is  the  earnest  declara- 
tion of  the  devout  purpose  to  give  no  sleep  to  the  eyes,  nor 
slumber  to  the  eyelids,  until  a  place  of  holy  worship  be  found 
for  the  Lord,  a  habitation  for  the  Mighty  God  of  Jacob!  It 
is  the  voice  of  the  heart  that  was  made  glad,  because  the  feet 
of  brethren  were  to  stand  within  the  gates  of  Jerusalem,  and 
the  tribes  of  the  Lord  were  to  go  up  unto  the  testimony  of 
Israel,  and  give  thanks  unto  the  name  of  the  Lord.  The  loyal, 
true,  and  gratified  soul,  which  seeks  communion  wnth  the 
Father  in  His  holy  house,  esteems  those  most  blessed  and 
most  happy  who  are  found  praising  God  in  His  temple,  who 
go  from  strength  to  strength  while  they  pass  through  the 
valleys  of  Baca,  for  the  Lord  God  is  their  sun  and  shield,  and 
withholds  no  good  thing  from  them  that  walk  uprightly,  and 
that  esteem  a  day  in  His  courts  better  than  a  thousand  spent 
in  the  tents  of  wickedness. 

Three  thousand  years  have  passed  away  since  the  great 
consecration  service  which  my  text  commemorates,  but  it  is  as 
appropriate  to  apply  the  language  of  that  service  to  this  fair 
temple  that  you,  dear  brethren  of  St.  Paul's,  Selma,  have 
built  "to  the  name  of  the  Lord,"  as  to  the  splendid  temple 
which  crowned  the  sacred  mount. 

Our  service  to-day  is  the  service  of  dedication  of  three 

357 


358  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

thousand  years  ago,  for  we,  too,  have  built  an  house  to  the 
name  of  the  Lord,  for  the  solemn  feasts  of  the  Lord  our  God. 
The  prayer  of  faith  has  come  to  take  the  place  of  sweet 
incense;  the  sacrifice  of  Calvary  has  fulfilled  all  the  sin-offer- 
ings ;  holiness  to  the  Lord,  the  offering  of  the  body,  soul  and 
mind  in  worship  and  in  a  Christian  life,  is  now  the  burnt- 
offering  which  our  Lord  requires :  and  as  oft  as  we  celebrate 
the  sacrament  of  His  grace  and  love,  we  show  forth  His  death 
till  he  come,- — yet  we  dedicate  this  house  to  Him  in  the  use  of 
His  servant,  King  Solomon's  language,  for  that  language  is 
the  expression  of  the  one  obedient  purpose  to  pay  our  vows 
unto  the  Lord  our  God,  and  worship  him  in  the  beauty  of 
holiness!  The  splendid  temple  in  which,  from  generation  to 
generation,  the  knowledge  and  the  worship  of  the  God  of 
Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob  were  perpetuated  crowned  Mount 
Zion  but  for  four  hundred  years ;  and  its  successor,  the  house 
built  under  so  many  difiiculties  and  after  so  much  sorrow, 
remained  in  its  stead  but  six  hundred  years  longer,  yet  the 
words  of  the  believing  king  are  fulfilled,  and  God's  ordinance 
stands  fast  forever,  that  Israel  shall  worship  in  temples  and 
the  tribe  of  the  Lord  enter  His  earthly  courts  with  praise. 

Israel  has  had  her  temple  and  her  worship  from  the  altar 
of  Abel  to  the  Christian  churches  of  our  time;  for  holy 
worship  is  an  ordinance  forever  to  Israel. 

Rich,  grand,  and  magnificent  as  the  temple  of  Solomon 
was,  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  Christian  temples,  temples 
built  in  His  honor  and  consecrated  to  the  worship  of  God, 
through  His  all-prevailing  intercession  in  behalf  of  sinners, 
redeemed  by  His  cross,  have  as  far  surpassed  it  in  size,  beauty 
and  costliness  as  they  have  enjoyed  fuller  measures  of  the 
Divine  gifts  of  truth  and  grace.  Temples  there  are  now 
standing,  and  resounding  with  hymns  of  the  faith  and  the 
voice  of  worshipers,  which  have  numbered  more  years  than 
both  the  temples  of  the  holy  mount,  and  seem  to  the  eye  of 
faith  destined  to  be  God's  ordinance  to  Israel  for  ages  yet  to 
come. 


ELLISON  CAPERS  359 

And  so,  dear  brethren,  we  see  that  the  words  of  this  old 
dedication  service  find  a  confirmation  in  the  fulfiUment  of  the 
prophecy  of  one  greater  than  Solomon :  "The  hour  cometh," 
said  our  Lord,  "when  ye  shall  neither  in  this  mountain,  nor 
yet  at  Jerusalem,  worship  the  Father.  The  hour  cometh  when 
the  true  worshipers  shall  worship  the  Father  in  spirit  and  in 
truth."  Not  only  at  Jerusalem,  or  at  Gerizim,  but  everywhere 
shall  the  Father  be  worshiped.  What  was  once  a  local  ordi- 
nance, under  a  subordinate  worship,  shall  in  the  fulness  of 
times,  in  the  days  of  the  dispensation  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and 
the  Truth  as  it  is  in  Jesus,  become  to  Israel  a  great  Catholic 
Christian  privilege. 

This  privilege  we  realize  to-day,  in  the  solemn  dedication 
to  the  worship  of  the  Father,  Son  and  Holy  Ghost,  of  this 
beautiful  temple,  which  you  have  built  to  the  glory  and  honor 
of  God. 

These  reflections  on  my  text  suggest  some  thoughts  on  the 
permanence  of  the  Lord's  house.  It  is  a  glorious  reflection, 
dear  brethren,  that  if  our  earthly  tabernacles  are  dissolved  we 
have  a  building  of  God  which  cannot  be  moved,  a  sacred  home 
for  faith,  which  "the  God  of  Heaven  has  set  up,"  and  which 
shall  never  be  destroyed. 

As  life  deepens,  and  men  see  and  feel  how  all  is  change  and 
decay,  the  soul  longs  for  the  presence  in  this  world,  the  testi- 
mony of  the  immovable,  the  enduring!  The  witness  of  the 
undying!  The  prophecy  of  the  everlasting!  We  have  it,  my 
brethren,  in  the  sacred  temples  of  the  Lord.  They  rear  their 
spires  aloft  and  point  to  foundations  in  the  heavens !  They 
speak  with  the  voices  of  saints  and  sages  long  passed  to  their 
rest,  and  they  keep  the  words  of  eternal  life!  They  have  the 
only  balm  for  weary  hearts,  and  the  only  truth  for  earnest 
souls !  Their  doors  alone  stand  wide  open  to  all  the  world, 
and  at  their  holy  altars  may  we  unite  with  the  loved  and  lost 
in  the  blest  communion  of  the  family  of  God.  This  is  an 
ordinance  for  Israel  forever! 

The  permanence,  the  durability,  of  Christian  worship  was 


36o  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

the  theme  of  prophecy,  and  the  subject  of  some  of  its  grandest 
images.  Look  for  a  moment  at  the  image  of  the  sacred  psalm, 
in  which  a  great  King  from  the  throne  of  Zion  decrees  the 
spiritual  conquest  of  the  nations  of  this  world;  calmly  con- 
templates their  raging  opposition ;  claims  the  remotest  heathen 
for  His  inheritance,  and  the  uttermost  part  of  the  earth  for 
His  possession;  challenges  the  great  kings  and  the  wise  judges 
of  the  earth  to  serve  Him  with  fear,  and  to  rejoice  in  His 
presence  with  trembling;  declares  the  awfulness  of  His  wrath, 
and  pronounces  those  only  blessed  who  put  their  trust  in  Him ! 

What  can  give  us  a  nobler  conception  of  the  Psalmist's 
faith  in  the  permanence  of  Zion's  throne  and  the  universality 
of  the  empire  of  Jesus  ! 

In  the  image  of  the  prophet  Daniel,  the  kingdoms  of  his- 
tory are  giving  place,  one  to  another,  but  the  kingdom  which 
the  Lord  of  Heaven  set  up  is  represented  as  gathering  strength 
continually,  until  at  last  its  empire  covers  the  world ! 

No  human  hand  set  that  stone  in  motion  which  broke  to 
pieces  and  scattered,  like  chaff  of  the  threshing  floor,  the  great 
worldly  idol  of  iron  and  clay  and  brass  and  silver  and  gold ! 
And  a  greater  than  Daniel  the  Prophet  set  before  Llis  Church 
the  image  of  a  tree,  springing  up  into  life  and  beauty  and 
glory,  whose  branches  should  fill  the  lands,  and  shelter  the 
weary  nations  of  the  earth.  History  has  set  its  seal  upon 
prophecy,  and  lo !  to-day  we  gather  together  under  the  boughs 
of  the  mustard  tree,  whose  branches  have  come  to  us  over  the 
seas,  and  whose  gracious  arms  are  extending  to  every  people  of 
the  earth! 

What  greater  sign  can  be  given  than  the  Church  itself?  All 
history  is  prophecy  verified,  and  the  man  who  does  not  find 
in  the  history  of  the  past  eighteen  centuries  a  sign  from 
Heaven,  attesting  the  truth,  the  stability,  the  conquering 
pov/er  of  the  Lord's  house,  is  blind  to  the  testimony  of  facts 
and  incapable  of  appreciating  the  logic  of  the  sacred  argument. 
We  turn  to  our  Greek  Testaments  to  find  the  meaning  of  our 
Lord's  parables  of  the  mustard  tree,  and  the  leaven,  and  the 


ELLISON  CAPERS  361 

draw-net,  and  the  growing  seed,  but  their  best  interpretation 
is  written  in  the  past  Christian  centuries !  Their  most  con- 
vincing verification  is  found  in  the  being  of  the  Church  of 
God !  A  brilliant  French  critic  has  well  observed  that  "the 
Church  is  a  great  thought  which  every  man  should  study." 
"We  Christians,"  says  the  great  theologian  of  St.  Paul's, 
London,  "are  probably  too  familiar  with  the  blessed  presence 
of  the  Church  to  do  justice  to  her  as  a  world-entrancing 
institution  and  as  the  nurse  and  guardian  of  our  moral  life. 
Like  the  air  we  breathe,  she  bathes  our  whole  being  with 
influences  we  do  not  analyze."  [Liddon,  iii,  118.]  But  it  is 
our  duty  to  analyze  them.  Here  is  the  great  fact  of  Chris- 
tianity and  the  Church,  and  we  can  no  more  ignore  the  witness 
of  this  fact  as  binding  upon  us  in  its  testimony  to  the  truth 
which  the  Church  declares,  than  we  can  ignore  the  existence, 
the  light,  the  heat,  and  the  power,  of  the  sun  in  the  heavens. 

The  polities  and  policies  of  this  world  have  been  tried  and 
have  failed  time  and  again ;  and  they  have  been  as  often  set 
aside  for  other  and  still  other  systems  of  government,  of 
philosophy,  or  religion,  but  the  Church  of  Jesus  confronts  age 
after  age  and  asserts  her  one  faith,  one  Lord,  and  one  baptism. 
A  hundred  years  hence  may  witness  every  existing  govern- 
ment revolutionized  in  its  spirit  as  well  as  in  its  principles. 
Neither  the  wisest  statesman  nor  the  most  hopeful  patriot 
would  be  willing  to  guarantee  his  doctrines  for  a  hundred 
years,  however  devoutly  he  might  believe  them !  Look  at 
France,  where  there  is  so  much  of  this  world's  wisdom,  and 
courage,  and  strength !  What  changes  of  principles,  and 
changes  of  rulers,  and  changes  of  dynasties  have  we  witnessed 
there  in  our  generation!  And  what  have  the  past  hundred 
years  witnessed? 

Ah,  brethren,  these  stones,  cut  out  of  the  mountain  by 
human  hands  and  made  into  foundations,  crumble  to  dust 
beneath  the  weight  which  men  build  upon  them ;  but  the  house 
of  God,  the  home  of  faith,  whose  foundations  are  laid  on 
apostles  and  prophets  of  God,  Jesus  Christ  being  the  chief 


362  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

cornerstone,  can  never  be  removed !  Can  never  fall !  Indi- 
viduals may  fail,  separate  churches  may  depart  from  the  faith, 
the  Lord  may  remove  the  candlestick  out  of  the  place  which 
proves  unappreciative  by  its  light,  but  His  ordinance  to  Israel 
is  forever!  Zion  shall  not  be  moved!  More  firmly  planted 
in  the  earth  than  ever,  stronger  in  her  hold  upon  the  faith 
and  the  affections  of  the  millions  v^ho  have  been  born  unto 
God  within  her;  though  meeting  with  more  than  usual  scorn 
and  opposition  from  her  enemies,  the  Church  to-day,  my 
brethren,  has  peculiar  claims  upon  her  members — her  loyal, 
devoted  oft'spring.  Bear  with  me  a  few  moments  longer  while 
I  state  what  I  think  and  feel  to  be  some  of  the  most  important 
of  these: 

And  first,  brethren,  the  Church  claims  from  each  one  of  us 
our  own  personal  witness  to  the  verities  of  our  faith.  The 
apostolic  injunction  is  laid  upon  us:  "Contend  earnestly  for 
the  faith."  Men  will  not,  for  they  cannot,  contend  for  what 
they  do  not  know  and  experience  in  the  depths  of  conviction ; 
for  what  they  do  not  prize  as  a  tried  and  proven  blessing! 
The  age  in  which  we  live  is  quick  to  detect  shams  of  all  sorts, 
and  I  believe  as  quick  to  recognize  what  is  real  and  what  is 
true.  Let  us  be  real  and  let  us  be  true,  beloved,  in  the  witness 
we  bear  before  our  fellow-men.  This  after  all  is  the  argument 
which  tells — the  appeal,  the  convincing  testimony  of  a  manly, 
Christian  life!  To  this  our  Lord  appeals  in  these  memorable 
words  so  oft  repeated  in  His  Church :  "Let  your  light  so  shine 
before  men  that  they  may  see  your  good  works  and  glorify 
your  Father  which  is  in  heaven."  It  is  a  truth  that  the 
Christian  must  be  something  special  with  reference  to  the 
age,  the  time,  the  thought  in  which  he  lives  and  moves.  If 
this,  our  time,  is  the  age  of  mental  unrest,  of  change  and 
revolution  in  the  empire  of  thought,  then  for  us  churchmen 
it  is  the  time  for  devout,  earnest,  painstaking  loyalty  to  our 
sacred  convictions.  The  man  whose  religion  is  superficial, 
whose  attachment  to  the  Church  of  Christ  is  questionable, 
cannot  be  a  witness  for  the  faith  delivered  to  the  saints,  in 


ELLISON  CAPERS  363 

this  or  in  any  age.  The  man  with  the  microscope  or  the  man 
of  science  receives  the  faith  of  this  generation  because 
he  presents  the  verities,  the  facts  of  nature! 

Let  us,  beloved,  bear  our  testimony  in  our  Hves  to  the  reaH- 
ties  of  divine  grace  and  truth,  and  we  shall  have  the  ear  and 
faith  of  our  fellow-men.  The  spirit  of  intelligent  investiga- 
tion which  is  all  abroad  and  quick  to  separate  between  what 
is  said  only  because  other  men  have  held  and  said  the  same, 
and  what  is  said  out  of  the  abundance  of  the  heart  which  can- 
not but  speak  its  experiences — will  have  no  power,  moral  or 
intellectual,  to  reject  the  manifested  facts  of  godliness.  We 
may  show  our  zeal  against  materialism  and  infidelity  by  pro- 
ducing arguments  to  prove  their  weakness,  but  we  will  never 
convert  the  materialist  unless  he  sees  that  we  are  spiritually 
strong;  that  we  do  not  rely  upon  the  weakness  of  his  position, 
but  on  the  strength  of  our  own.  This  requires  of  us  Christians 
a  depth  of  sincerity  in  our  loyalty  to  Christ  and  His  Church 
which  the  Church  demands  of  all  her  sons  and  daughters.  It 
may  be  our  duty  to  know  what  the  writers  and  thinkers  of 
our  day  are  teaching  for  truth,  but  the  supremest  duty  laid 
upon  us  as  churchmen  is  to  know  the  ground  on  which  we 
stand,  and  to  stand  loyally  on  it.  Books  are  multiplied  in  the 
boldest  advocacy  of  the  unbelief  of  this  epicurean  age,  and 
men  with  new  Gospels  and  new  interpretations  of  the  old 
Gospel,  and  new  views  of  inspiration  and  new  comments  on 
the  Bible,  and  new  churches  and  creeds  are,  alas !  too  numerous 
on  every  hand !  How  does  all  this  affect  the  man  who  believes 
supremely  in  one  Book,  one  faith,  one  Lord,  one  baptism? 

Such  is  the  energy,  the  zest,  the  almost  idolatrous  devotion 
with  which  men  are  living  for  this  world,  that  they  are  losing 
faith  in  the  realities  of  the  world  to  come. 

The  beatitude  of  the  Master  rests  upon  the  pure  in  heart; 
the  self-denying  for  righteousness  sake;  the  meek;  the  believ- 
ing; the  good  and  the  true! 

The  beatitude  of  this  world  is  given  by  the  prosperous ;  the 
thrifty;  the  great  in  office  and  rank;  the  beautiful  and  the 


364  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

gifted!  Our  religion  teaches  us  that  this  life  is  not  an  end. 
but  a  probation !  That  it  is  God's  great  school,  in  which  he  is 
training  his  children  through  His  Church  for  immortal  life! 
The  testimony  of  the  world  is,  that  this  life  is  all,  that  temporal 
happiness,  enjoyment,  ease,  gratification — these  are  worth  liv- 
ing for,  and  only  these. 

We  Christians,  my  brethren,  must  bear  our  testimony  for 
both  worlds.  The  man  who  prays  on  Sunday  to  be  delivered 
from  the  eternal  consequences  of  his  sins,  and  lives  during  the 
week  in  the  indulgence  of  sin,  only  strengthens  the  infidel  in 
his  unbelief,  and  makes  his  profession  of  the  Church's  faith 
worse  than  a  nullity. 

It  is  the  scoff  of  an  English  critic  that  the  churchman  who 
professes  to  say  the  general  confession  with  sincerity  once,  or 
twice,  or  more,  every  week,  is  either  a  fool  or  a  hypocrite ; 
that  the  man  who  leaves  undone  every  week  what  he  know^s 
to  be  his  duty  cannot  be  sincere ;  that  it  is  no  excuse  for  him 
that  he  can  plead  the  devices  and  the  desires  of  the  human 
heart ;  that  he  dishonors  a  God  of  righteousness  to  ask  his 
forgiveness  more  than  one  hundred  times  a  year  for  tl^ousands 
of  offenses  against  laws,  obedience  to  which  his  faith  declares 
to  be  the  pledge  of  life  eternal !  Of  course,  my  dear  brethren, 
we  can  have  no  sympathy  with  the  unbelief  which  prompts 
such  a  sarcasm  on  the  purity  of  the  law  of  Christ  and  the 
w^eakness  of  the  human  heart,  but  is  there  not  a  just  rebuke 
underneath  this  mocking  criticism  ? 

My  brethren,  if  the  world  saw  us  to  be  more  in  earnest  in 
the  service  of  God,  more  careful  to  live  sober,  righteous,  and 
godly  lives ;  more  active  in  the  sweet  charities  of  Christ ; 
kinder  to  the  poor;  more  charitable  in  our  judgments  one  of 
another ;  more  trustful  of  God  in  our  troubles ;  and  more  hope- 
ful in  our  work:  if,  in  short,  our  week-day  life  was  more  in 
harmony  with  our  Sunday  worship,  would  there  be  any  force 
whatever  in  the  sneer  of  the  critics? 

Verily,  brethren,  we  are  not  called  upon  to  go  to  the  stake 


ELLISON  CAPERS  365 

for  the  testimony  of  Jesus ;  but  I  believe  the  Church  of  our 
day  is  called  to  bear  witness  to  the  truth  with  all  the  power  and 
earnestness  of  the  life  that  gives  itself  up  sweetly,  cheerfully, 
and  truly  to  walk  in  the  ways  of  duty  and  pleasure,  as  under 
the  eye  of  the  Father,  whose  smile  we  daily  covet,  and  whose 
frown  we  dare  not  deserve.  In  spite  of  every  hindrance,  the 
Church  is  successful  and  is  gaining  her  victories  over  the 
world  and  extending  her  empire  over  the  fairest  portions  of 
the  earth ;  but  has  not  history  taught  us  that  victory  may 
prove  more  disastrous  than  defeat? 

The  Christian  is  compared  to  a  soldier,  but  not  a  soldier 
shut  up  in  an  impregnable  fortress !  No ;  verily,  a  soldier  on 
the  battle-field,  fighting  for  truth  and  holding  his  position  by 
true  courage  and  increasing  activity.  The  Apostolic  concep- 
tion of  the  Churchman  is  the  Roman  warrior,  clad  in  armor, 
with  sword  in  hand,  doing  battle  against  his  foe.  My  brethren, 
the  foe  in  our  day  is  gross  materialism ;  intense  love  for  this 
world ;  distrust  of  the  world  to  come.  Men  are  not  indifferent 
because  thev  are  wilfullv  bad. 

The  Church  claims  from  us  such  a  life  as  will  leave  no 
doubt  on  the  minds  of  men  who  know  us  about  the  reality  of 
our  religion,  however  they  may  question  the  deductions  of 
our  faith. 

When  I  consider  the  times  in  which  we  live;  the  unbelief, 
the  worldliness  which  enters  the  home  of  faith  itself:  the  lack 
of  godly  zeal  for  the  promotion  of  the  best  and  noblest  inter- 
ests of  men;  the  comparatively  slow  progress  the  great 
domestic  and  foreign  mission  work  of  the  Church  is  making; 
the  slow  growth  of  our  parishes,  and  the  want  of  heartiness 
and  spiritual  fire  in  our  religious  lives ;  it  appears  to  me,  my 
brethren,  that  the  supreme  want  among  us  is  a  truer,  juster, 
more  conscientious  sense  of  our  obligations  to  strive  together 
for  the  faith  of  the  Gospel. 

In  the  cares  and  anxieties  we  feel  for  our  families,  in  the 
rush  of  business,  in  the  absorbing,  consuming  struggle  of  life. 


366  THE  SOLDIER-BISHOP 

let  us  not  forget  that  we  belong  to  a  great  Catholic  body 
which  seeks  the  good  and  the  happiness  of  all  mankind;  whose 
ministry  among  men  is  a  ministry  for  men. 

How  grand,  how  effective,  would  be  the  Church's  triumph 
if  every  loyal  son  and  daughter  would  cultivate  a  sense  of 
responsibility  like  this!  Then  every  Christian  would  be  the 
missionary  of  the  Church  in  his  life,  and  his  life  would  be  all 
the  more  effective  because  of  its  broad  humanness. 

To  you,  dear  brethren  of  St.  Paul's,  Selma,  I  offer  my 
heartiest  congratulations  and  greet  you  in  brotherly  love.  This 
day  consecrates  you  afresh  to  the  glorious  work  of  serving 
God  in  His  Church.  This  beautiful  temple  you  have  built, 
which  to-day  has  been  consecrated  to  the  Master's  service  by 
vour  beloved  Bishop,  stands  before  this  community  as  well 
for  your  witness  as  for  the  testimony  of  the  Catholic  faith. 
Here,  my  brethren.  T  call  on  you  to  consecrate  vour  hearts  to 
the  blessed  life  of  faith,  hope,  and  charity!  Speaking  from 
my  knowledge  of  this  parish,  and  from  mv  sense  of  its  spirit 
toward  this  sanctuary.  I  predict  for  the  Church  in  Selma  a 
career  of  iise fulness  which  will  strengthen  and  gladden  every 
loval  heart,  and  be  the  best  memorial  of  vour  devotion  to 
Christ  and  vour  interest  in  the  Avelfare  of  vour  fellow-citizens. 
Be  united,  brethren,  in  every  good  work  and  let  vour  watch- 
word be  Love!  Believe  me,  dear  brethren,  the  Church  needs 
the  love  of  Jesus  shed  abroad  in  the  hearts  of  her  members 
by  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  Comforter. 

Freely,  richly,  abundantly  as  the  gift  is  ministered  unto  us 
in  the  word  and  the  sacraments,  such  is  the  worldliness  of 
these  poor  hearts  of  ours,  such  is  our  want  of  faith  in  spiritual 
things,  that  we  come  to  the  sacred  fountains  of  life  and  go 
away  thirsty ;  we  live  too  much,  alas !  on  the  meat  that  perishes ; 
and  so  we  fail  of  the  strength  and  glory  of  the  life  which 
grows  only  in  the  soil  of  faith,  and  flourishes  by  the  works  of 
righteousness ! 

Every  man  who  is  honest  with  himself  must  know  and  feel 
that  he  cannot  assume  the  spirit  of  Jesus !    He  cannot  affect  it. 


ELLISON  CAPERS  367 

The  verities  of  history,  the  verities  of  grace,  the  testimony  of 
the  Church,  the  witness  which  the  conscience  bears,  the  sacred 
evidence  of  the  loved  and  the  lost — all,  all  declare  how  real, 
how  true,  how  strong  is  the  power  of  the  heart  in  which  Jesus 
Christ  is  enthroned  as  that  heart's  Prophet,  Priest,  and  King! 

This  is  the  heart  we  must  have,  my  brethren,  or  we  will  not, 
because  we  cannot,  do  the  Church's  work.  And  glorious 
thought !  inspiring  emotion !  blessed  truth !  That  heart  we 
each  may  have!  It  is  ours  by  covenant  and  promise  in  bap- 
tism; by  our  self-surrender  and  God's  grace  in  confirmation; 
by  our  faithful  participation  in  the  life  of  Jesus  in  his  holy 
feast  of  grace;  by  the  consecrated  atmosphere  we  breathe  in 
our  worship  of  the  God  and  Father  of  us  all  in  His  Holy 
Catholic  Church  !  Only  be  true  to  Jesus  and  it  is  yours.  Faith- 
ful in  prayer;  in  communion;  in  the  knowledge  of  the  Word 
of  Christ ;  in  the  works  of  love  which  he  has  prepared  for  us 
to  walk  in,  we  will  have  the  henrt,  the  spirit,  and  in  our 
measure  the  power  of  Jesus  as  certainly  as  we  have  His  body, 
the  Church,  among  us ! 

In  all  love  for  you,  my  brethren,  in  all  affection  for  your 
rector,  in  sincerest  respect  and  reverence  for  your  bishop, 
and  in  heartiest  interest  for  the  work  and  life  and  snirit  of  the 
Church  in  Alabama,  I  bid  you,  beloved.  Godspeed  in  Selma. 


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